Disappear
by HouLoiMouGin
Summary: THE FABLED CHAPTER 8! Harry is transported into an alternate universe where he finds Sirius and his parents are still alive and he is Voldemort's most infamous deatheater. Post OotP.
1. The Cell

Disclaimer: I forgot this last time. Right, well, surprisingly enough I don't own Harry Potter. 

Author notes: I don't normally do thankyous for everyone because it just tricks people into thinking I've wrote loads when I haven't but this time I will. I never expected to get so many people reviewing. If I seem to know a lot about everyone who reviewed it's because I was bored and just checked out everyone's profile and stuff. Anyway, no beginning, one sentence did the trick. 

This chapter is dedicated to everyone who put this on their favourites:

PadfootProngsMoony, Weaver of Words, Nimair Black, RJLluver400, Lilykins, Kaitee, ShadowReader, Nadia Greenleaf, Wizma, Myk, Trippmaster, mrs-osborne's-class, tempusfugit3 and Elfy19

Sorry if I've missed someone out but ff.net will only show me who's put me one their favourite author list. So, review if you've put this on your favourite stories list, please. Even if it's only to say YOMF (your on my favourites).

This chapter is betaed now but if you've already read it before, I wouldn't bother reading it again. It's mainly grammer and sentence structure problems that have been corrected. It's really only betaed for the benefit of people who haven't read this before.

Disappear

Harry stumbled and hit the concrete hard. He swore at the pain and picked himself up. His hands were bleeding, and he wiped them quickly on his jeans, staring around him.

Where the hell was he? He had just been in the back yard of the Dursleys' when his scar had started burning and … where the hell was he?

The dark streets were totally unfamiliar, but at a guess, Harry reckoned he must be somewhere in London. Maybe a portkey had taken him here … or he had accidentally apparated.

He started to walk down the street while trailing his right hand along a garden wall like a blind man. His eyes were constantly darting around, trying to see something that looked vaguely recognisable.

There was a flash of light in the distance, and Harry heard yells. The next second, a man ran out from behind a building, holding his arm and limping slightly.

"Hey!" yelled Harry from where he was standing. "No - wait!"

The person paused, and Harry could see him peering into the gloom, trying to see who had spoken. Harry stepped forward.

"Are you an Auror?" he asked hesitantly. "Can you help me get to Hogwarts?" 

"What are you doing here?" said the man suddenly. Something about his voice made Harry falter. "This place is dangerous; the Ministry's cordoned the area off." 

"I'm lost. I think I must have apparated here accidentally … Er - even though I don't know _how_ to apparate," replied Harry, wondering why the man's voice seemed so familiar. 

"Well, step into the light. I need to check that you're on our side," said the man.

Harry stepped forward, and for a second, saw the man properly ... saw Sirius's achingly familiar features, before a wand was pointed directly at his heart. 

Harry felt faint and dizzy. Staring at the man in front of him, he said, in a voice weak with pain and disbelief, "Sirius?" 

Sirius looked angry and scared, and Harry could not fathom why. 

"Sirius? But-but I thought you were dead. What's happened? How did you get back from behind the Veil?" 

"Shut up, Harry," said Sirius sharply. "If you try anything, I'll kill you. Don't move, I'm taking you to Lily and James."

The words did not register in Harry's mind at first. "Lily and James?" he said blankly. He felt dizzy, as though this wasn't real; it was all just a dream, and he'd wake up soon… "But they're dead Sirius. I-I thought you knew. Why-how don't you know?" 

Sirius's hand wavered, and he said, in a slightly dubious voice, "Lily and James are not dead, though you're meant to be. Stop talking rubbish." 

But Harry just moaned and slid down to the pavement, burying his face in his hands. "No - no, I'm going mad. You're not real, you're dead. I'm just imagining this … Oh hell, I'm going mad, I'm going mad." 

"Get up!" Sirius hissed, and poked Harry with his wand, "Get up!" and Harry rather wearily stood up. "I don't know what you're trying to do, but it won't work," said Sirius. 

"I'm dead, aren't I," Harry stated flatly. 

"What?" 

"The only way I'd be able to see you is if I'm dead." 

Sirius looked worried for Harry's sanity now, but he turned abruptly angry and said, "I'm not listening to this any longer." He shoved an object into Harry's hand. 

The familiar dizziness overtook Harry, and his feet left the ground as he clutched onto the portkey. Sirius was holding onto it beside him. 

Harry's feet slammed into the ground, and he stumbled but remained standing. He looked around and saw that he was in some sort of Ministry building. Two men who had been slouched in chairs jumped up as soon as Harry and Sirius arrived, and one quickly sent a stunning spell at him. 

Harry collapsed immediately, and Sirius caught him, before lowering him down to the floor and conjuring ropes. 

"Thanks," said Sirius. "I found him on the Deatheater raid. Good job you stunned him, I think he was trying some dark arts trick on me."

"But what the hell is he doing here?" asked one of the men. "I thought he was dead, I mean, the Ministry said there weren't any survivors." 

"Evidently, they were wrong," said Sirius. "I think something must have happened to him though, when he escaped I mean. He was really confused when I found him, he kept on saying Lily and James were dead." 

"Maybe there's some truth in that rumour," said the other man in a frightened tone. "You know how Harry Potter was always threatening to kill them, I mean, m-maybe he's finally done it." 

A worried look passed over Sirius's face. "I'll go check on them then, see if they're okay," he said in a distracted voice. "Put him in your highest security cell. Make sure he doesn't do anything." 

"Don't worry," said one of the men, "go check on your friends." 

*

There was a blur of voices inside Harry's head. People were talking nearby, but his scar hurt too much to understand the words. With an effort he opened his eyes, and propped himself up. From what he could see, Harry was inside a prison cell, with bars on one side. 

"-need to contact Minister Fudge." 

"He'll be on his way soon-" 

"-bringing a questioner as well." 

"Psychiatrist more like!" 

Laughter.

Panicked realisations swept through Harry's mind as he woke up further. Where the hell was he? The last thing he remembered was seeing Sirius, but … but Sirius was dead! Harry was sure of that; he'd seen Sirius disappear behind the veil. 

The voices Harry had heard before approached the cell, and a second later two figures walked past. He didn't have his glasses on, but he was sure neither of them were wearing black robes or white Deatheater masks. 

Reacting quickly, Harry got up and ran to the bars, intending to grab onto one of the two person's robes, but the moment he got within half a metre of the bars a shock rather like electricity threw him back into the wall. 

The two men passing Harry's cell jumped as if they were hit by the same curse themselves. Harry moaned and touched his head hesitantly, feeling for blood. 

"Didn't like that, did you Potter?" one of the men jeered. 

Harry ignored him and tried to focus his eyes, getting up slowly so as not to jar his bones. "You're Aurors, aren't you?" he asked. "Is this the Ministry? What am I doing here? Why am I in a cell?" 

One of the men sniggered a little and the other said, "You're joking, right?" When Harry didn't say anything the man continued with a voice heavily laced with sarcasm "Well, I suppose it _might_ be because you're one of You-Know-Who's most infamous Deatheaters."

"Don't be stupid," said Harry automatically. "I'm not a Deatheater. What am I really doing here?" 

The man clenched his teeth and said, "You are locked up in the Ministry, Potter, because you are a Deatheater accused of murder and multiple uses of the Unforgivable curses. Is that reason enough for you?" 

All that the man's words succeeded in doing was cause more confusion in Harry's mind. "But I've never used the Unforgivable curses!" he protested incredulously. "Except-" _Had they found out about Bellatrix?_ "Except for that one time…" The man smirked wider now. "But she deserved it!" Harry shouted, now trying angrily to prove himself. There was no response from the man and this made Harry even angrier. "That woman bloody deserved it and-and I should have bloody killed her as well!"

"SHUT THE HELL UP!" shouted the other man suddenly. "Don't you dare talk about that again! She-she was one of the nicest people I've ever known, and-and you did that to her … you did that…" 

The man's voice broke off suddenly, as though he was about to cry. The other man glared at Harry and muttered something to his distressed friend before leading him quickly away. 

Harry sank back down onto the ground and leaned against the stonewall. His scar started to throb, adding to the pain from where he had hit his head. Despite himself, Harry grinned and started to giggle a little._ Voldemort's happy about something,_ he thought. _Probably me getting locked up in a Ministry cell._ This trail of thought led Harry to struck by a sudden realisation, what if it was Voldemort doing this? Maybe he had somehow convinced the Ministry that he was a Deatheater. 

A bolt of pain flared across his scar and Harry cried out in pain. He clutched his forehead and starting laughing harder now. _Oh, it was such good news; there was so much he could do now. The Light side would be in a frenzy when they heard it, people would be scared, panic- _

"Mr Potter?" 

The voice jerked Harry from his increasingly frenzied thoughts. He opened his eyes and saw two figures standing outside his cell. Pain flashed across his scar again and Harry giggled, faintly aware that his face was wet. The two people exchanged glances as Harry continued to laugh uncontrollably. _Everything was just so funny!_

"Are you alright Mr Potter?"

His scar gave another painful twinge and Harry moaned, shaking his head. "My scar, my scar," he heard himself say and he pressed his forehead against the stone floor in an effort to sooth it. 

"Mr Potter!" A new voice rang out, impatient and angry. "Get up. We don't have time for this and neither do you. The Ministry has very kindly provided a questioner and we need a statement from you before we send you to Azkaban." 

The earlier voice spoke up in a softer tone. "Minister Fudge? Are you sure that's necessary. I can come back any ti-" 

"Yes, I'm sure it's necessary Smethwyck! And if you don't mind I have some other much more important business to attend to. I'll leave you with him now. Make sure you don't go too near the bars." 

Silence. Silence except for Harry's laboured breathing as he lay on the ground trying to control the pain in his scar. 

"Mr Potter?" 

The pain was almost gone now. Harry sat up and looked at the slight man standing outside the cell, looking inquiringly at him and clutching a clipboard. Harry felt very tired all of a sudden. 

"Go away," he muttered and pulled himself onto the bed, his legs shaking slightly. 

Smethwyck grinned, as if this was all he expected. "I'm very sorry Mr Potter but this is necessary. Answering these questions will help you and it won't take very long." 

Harry's scar twinged and Smethwyck's voice seemed very grating all of a sudden. 

"Fine!" he snapped, wishing the Healer could just leave him alone. 

"Now, first of all Mr Potter … may I call you Harry?" Harry gritted his teeth but nodded. "First of all, would you object to using Veritaserum? It's a standard question." 

Everything that Harry didn't want the Ministry to know flashed through his head. _His connection to Voldemort … Sirius … the Order of the Phoenix … _

"I don't want to use it," he said quickly. 

Smethwyck nodded as if he hadn't been expecting anything else. He tucked the bottle of Veritaserum back into his bag. "Now, first question. What do you remember directly after the fire?" 

Harry glared at Smethwyck in annoyance. "What fire?"

"Right. Memory loss," Smethwyck muttered, writing something down on his clipboard. "Or possibly denial," he added, looking shrewdly at Harry. 

Harry felt suddenly very cold. _What was happening? Had this fire really happened and he had just forgotten it?_

"I'm not in denial," he said out loud. "I just … don't remember any fire. I don't see when anything like that could have happened." 

Smethwyck was still looking unrumpled. "Perhaps some more basic questions," he said. "Your name?" 

"Harry Potter." 

"Date of birth?" 

"July the 31st." 

"And what are your parent's names?" 

"Lily and James Pot - is there any point to this? I'm sure you already know my name?" 

The healer smiled at him. "I'm just trying to get some basic facts straight." 

_Yeah, more like trying to find out if he was mad,_ Harry thought in annoyance. _Had the Ministry really believed everything the Daily Prophet had written about him? _

"Harry?" asked Smethwyck, breaking into his thoughts. "Can you tell me where you've been for the last year?"

"You already know!" Harry snapped. "It was in the Daily Prophet. Everyone knows what happened last year."

"You mean the fire?" Smethwyck asked eagerly, leaning forward with his pen poised to take notes. 

"No," said Harry, giving him a funny look. 

Smethwyck sighed and tapped the clipboard with his pen. "You don't remember the fire. Okay, I get that. So what have you been doing for the last year?" 

"Um-" Harry started. "Well, I went to school…" he eyed Smethwyck, who was scribbling down everything he said. It was extremely off-putting. "And-um-I just did normal school things. There was a new teacher … Professor Umbridge and-uh…"

"You went to Hogwarts?" Smethwyck interrupted.

"Uh-yeah."

"And 'did normal school things'?" 

"Yeah…"

Smethwyck stood up abruptly. "I think I've found out as much as I can right now. Goodbye Harry. I should be back tomorrow." 

Smethwyck strode off and Harry sank back onto the bed. Well, that had been pointless. It had only succeeded in confusing him even more. What on earth was going on? Why did everyone seem to think he was dangerous? And why was Sirius alive? But … maybe that part had just been a dream, and the reason he was locked up was because he cast cruciatus on Bellatrix … the Auror had said that Harry had murdered someone … and that he was a Deatheater… 

Feeling annoyed at his own helplessness and ignorance Harry curled up on the bed. There was no blanket but as it wasn't that cold he slept peacefully, having told himself that everything would be clearer in the morning. 

*

Sirius banged on the door as hard as he could. 

"Lily! James! Are you there?" 

There was no answer. Sirius felt a numbness spread through him. _No, Harry had been lying. Lily and James were alright. They weren't dead, they weren't- _

"JAMES! LILY! PRONGS!" He practically bellowed, hammered on the door, becoming more and more panicked the more seconds passed. "OPEN! OPEN U-"

The door swung open suddenly, revealing a very disgruntled James Potter staring out, his hair sticking up and dressing gown on. 

"What on-" he exclaimed when he saw Sirius, who was almost hysterical now. "Sirius? What are you doing? It's 3 in the morning!" 

Sirius flung himself on his best friend, so relieved he felt near to tears. "James!" he practically sobbed. "I thought you were dead!" 

James stared bewilderingly at Sirius, who had buried his face in James' dressing gown. "Um - maybe you'd better come in," and he sat Sirius down at the kitchen table.

Lily stepped out through the doorway and stared at Sirius. "Sirius? What's going on? Has something happened?"

Sirius looked up at Lily and tried to speak. "He said - he said you were dead." 

"Dead? Who said that?"

There was a long pause as Sirius mentally squared his shoulders. "It's - it's Harry," he said haltingly. "He's, well, he's alive. I captured him myself." 

Lily gasped and grabbed hold of James for support. "Are you okay then? He didn't hurt you-?" 

Sirius shook his head. "No, he didn't try to resist at all. It was easy getting him to the Ministry. But - but the thing is … I-I think something might have happened to him. He wasn't talking right. He thought I was dead, he thought you were dead as well and he didn't seem to understand why I was taking him to the Ministry."

"Are you sure … that it's our Harry? Maybe that was a Muggle or-or someone who just looked like him," said James, who looked as though he was in shock. 

"No, he knew who I was, he knew your names," said Sirius, speaking quickly in an effort to explain. "I think that - that … he might have been … _damaged_ in his head … after the fire." 

Lily had started crying. Sirius stared at the floor awkwardly and James spoke up in an odd voice. "Me and Lily will be going to visit the Ministry now. Tell Remus and Peter what's happened Sirius." 

*

"Don't get any closer Lily, it's dangerous."

"But there's a charm on the bars and anyway, you heard what the Healer said. He's lost his memory, something to do with the fire … could be brain damage." 

"…"

"James?" 

"…"

"What if he's … better? Like he used to be? James?" 

"A person can't suddenly change like that, Lily. It doesn't happen." 

Harry blinked blearily and opened his eyes. He stared up at the grey ceiling in a daze. 

"Is he awake?"

Harry sat up quickly at the whisper, his eyes darting over to the bars, taking in the two people sat down outside his cell. 

"Harry?" The woman with red hair spoke softly, her voice kindly and understanding, though her face was creased with pain.

Harry felt like his heart might burst out of his chest with anger. He had had enough. He couldn't take the bloody Ministry. He couldn't take any more dead people parading around anymore.

"Get out," he said, his voice tight with emotion.

"We're not here to fight," said the man. "The Healer said you had lost your memory and-" 

"GET OUT!"

"Bu-" 

"GET OUT GET OUT _GET OUT!_ I don't want to see you! I don't want to see anyone! You're doing something to me, you're trying to make me believe. You-you just - You're dead, you're dead, _you're dead!_" In loss of anyone to punch Harry kicked the bed over in anger, sending it slamming into the wall. 

The man and the woman were still standing there. Harry screamed then, clutching his hair and sinking to the ground.

Someone was crying. Harry realised it was him. He was sobbing, his arms wrapped around himself, rocking backwards and forwards. His face screwed up in pain against the emotion coming from inside of him. 

"Leave me alone," he sobbed. "Go away, leave me alone." 

The woman spoke. She sounded as if she was in tears herself. "Oh, Harry." 

"No…" Harry moaned. "Please, just go - just go…"

Footsteps faded away but Harry stayed there, still sobbing. 

*

"Harry. _Harry!_" 

Harry jerked awake. He blinked uncertainly into the darkness. 

"Who's there?" he hissed. 

"It's me, Draco. Be quiet, we're going to get you out of here." 

"Get-get me out?" For a second Harry was uncomprehending. "You're Deatheaters!" he said, accusingly. 

There was a pause before the voice answered. "Well, obviously. Come on. The Dark Lord wants to see you."

"What? No-no! I'm not going with you!" In a choice between the Ministry and Voldemort, Harry would choose the Ministry. "I'm not-" 

His sentence was cut off when someone grabbed him and tried to cover his mouth. "Hey! Help! Aurors, Aurors!" 

Something was shoved into Harry's hand and the next second he felt the familiar tug around his navel before his cell spun away. 

*

Comedia: Thanks! *beams* my first review! 

Wizma: Thanks for putting this on your favourite stories list!

Mione lover: The Marauders … they're all together, but I'm not sure about Peter. If he's good then it's really difficult to get his character right but if he's evil, it's just too clichéd and predictable. 

Angel & amy: Thanks! By the way, you two need to get ff.net accounts, they're really cool. 

Chicgeek: You don't read AU fics? Well, I have to admit, I only read a certain kind, the ones where Harry goes into another universe, I'm a sucker for those. If you liked this story, then you should check out what I've got on my favourite stories list, most of them are similar to this story. 

MoonSprite: I took your advice! I didn't bother with a tedious 3 page beginning (or even worse, a whole chapter), all I had to do was insert 1 sentence and tada! I had a beginning. Thanks for your review, it was really nice. 

Nadia Greenleaf: They will believe him … eventually. I really like to string things along. As for the cruciatus curse, well, I have to admit, I don't really know myself. I suppose it's the friend/girlfriend of that Auror. I like your idea about Azkaban. I might do that, or maybe just bring a Dementor to the Ministry for the same effect. 

Oasis: It's set in the summer after fifth year, I don't know if I'll bother to do flashbacks because, well, I don't think anything really happened in his summer. I won't tell you about evil!Harry but there are clues in this chapter, watch out for when people refer to him. 

SithelfJEn: Thanks. Hope you like this chapter. 

Liz: *hee hee* Thanks. 

Princessouch: Thanks, I'm continuing! 

ShadowReader: Hey, thanks for putting this on your favourite stories list. I'm sort-of amazed that you did. This was just a 3-page idea so I didn't expect anyone to. So, thanks! 

Sea-Turtles: Thanks for your review. I went and checked out your story as well, I really liked it. Especially that letter in chapter 2, yeah, that was funny. When are the Marauders going to find out? 

Kaitee: Thanks. You know, that's the highest compliment anyone can give me. My English teacher's always telling me to be more original. 

Lady Arwen of Rivendell: Thanks. 'Course I'll get more up. But, one warning, I'm not really the best at updating but I will finish it. 

Lilykins: Thanks for that Lilykins. By the way, cool name! 

Anonymous: Thanks. Yeah, I know. I used to beta but just had too much school work to continuel. 

Shania Maxwell: Thanks, hope this chapter wasn't too late. 

RJLluver400: Wow. I can't believe how many people have put this on their favourites, thanks. What part of Harry are you taken aback about? 

Wow: Not really sure if that's your real name (LOL) but thanks anyway.

Lois Lane: Thankyou. 

Nimair Black: Thanks Nimair. And I agree, The Basement is the best fic ever!

Kandice: Well, nothing like some insults to get the writer going *grins*. I know what you mean though, it was a bit of a cliff-hanger, the way it finished practically in the middle of a sentence. I like your time-travel fic. By the way, did you know that someone called 'Private I' has written an identical fic to you? 

Lothian: Go ahead and ask the questions, I love answering them. Thanks for your review. 

Doneril: I went & read your fic after your review, yeah, they are like opposites. Anyway, I've put you on my favourites. 

Angeltears3: Thanks for the review. I hope this Harry isn't too emotional. 

Japonica: Hey, thanks. I like your story as well, are you going to be updating it anytime soon? 

Prd2bAmerican18: Thanks. 

Weaver of Words: Skilfully? You really think so? Thanks. And ye-es he does eventually manage to convince people he's good, but not for a while, it's funner the longer it lasts. 

DanaGal: Thanks for your review. Hope you like this chapter. 

PadfootProngsMoony: Sorry it's taken so long. Thanks for your review and for putting me on your favourites. Your comments really cheered me up :) 


	2. Into the Black of Night

Disclaimer

I don't Harry Potter or any of the characters and I'm not making any money from this.

Author notes

Okay, I've removed the alternate slash scene from this chapter. I thought it might be putting people off from reading the rest of the story and I don't really want to do that. Anyway, all new readers, enjoy!

Into the Black of Night 

The swirling came to a stop and Harry's feet faltered, but the two Deatheaters' tight grips on his arms kept him from tripping over. He looked around, panicked. They were in a dark corridor, torches burning at the walls. It was very similar to the dark room Harry had been in as Voldemort, in numerous visions.

Voldemort had found him. He was being taken to some secret lair. He didn't see how he was ever going to get out of this.

"Listen, Malfoy," said Harry desperately. "You don't want to do this. Think about it. If-if you let me go, I'll make sure no-one finds out that you're a Deatheater. You-you could just go back to Hogwarts."

Malfoy kept on walking, dragging Harry along, but gave him a very funny look. "Are you alright Harry?" he said, his voice almost sounding concerned.

"What? No-no! Of course I'm not all right! I'm being taken to see Voldemort and he's probably going to kill me and ." Harry's voice trailed off and he stopped still. His scar was beginning to burn. The Deatheater on his other side tugged his arm impatiently.

Harry took a deep shuddering breath. "Is that-is Voldemort here?"

"Yeah," Malfoy said offhandedly. "He wants to see you. Wants to see how you survived."

In a panic Harry grabbed hold of Malfoy's arm, shaking the other Deatheater's hand off. "Malfoy. I know you don't like me very much," he said, tripping over his words in his haste, "but please, _please_ don't send me in there. You don't know what he'll do to me. Malfoy, please! He'll - he'll kill me! I know he will!"

Looking very worried now, Malfoy grabbed hold of Harry again and started walking him down the dark corridor again. "You shouldn't be worried," said Malfoy, trying to calm Harry, who was dragging his feet. "The Dark Lord isn't angry at you for disappearing, he's just pleased that you're back."

"No-no," said Harry desperately, his scar burning more with every step. He tried to fight off Malfoy and the other Deatheater, but they just held all the more tighter. Harry's scar started to burn all the more, and Harry was starting to feel a glimmer of anticipation, but whether from Voldemort or himself he didn't know.

He was getting closer. He knew it. He was getting closer to that dark room from his visions and Voldemort would be there. Voldemort would be there, and there would be no escape. There would be no one to help him this time.

_I'm not ready!_ He thought with dread. _I haven't been trained - I can't face him now. He'll kill me! _

"Malfoy! Malfoy!" he yelled, trying to break free of the Deatheater's grip. "Please don't do this Malfoy," he begged, near to tears, partly from his scar and partly from pure fear. "Let me go! _Please_!"

"Harry!" Malfoy hissed in his ear. "Shut up, will you! The other Deatheaters are getting suspicious."

"Let me go!"

Harry made one final effort to free himself when he was suddenly shoved into a tiny room on his left. It was pitch black apart from a tiny candle attached to a bracket on the wall. He glanced behind him and the door slammed shut. His scar felt like it was on fire and he was drenched in sweat and shaking. There was sudden movement from the darkness in front of him and Harry jumped.

"Who-who's th-there?" he said, his voice shaking so much it was hard to get the words out.

"No one you need be worried about," came the reply.

Harry's shaking increased tenfold. Despite the voice's assurances he felt there was something to be worried about. The burning in his scar was increasing; it felt like poison was running through his head. He had a bad feeling about this.

When the figure stepping into the puddle of light created by the one candle Harry reacted so fast he didn't even realise what had happened. He scuttled backwards and slammed into the wall behind him. It was Voldemort.

"Now Harry," Voldemort said. "There's no need to be frightened . yet. My spies at the Ministry informed me that you had been captured. And I was wondering . how did you manage to escape the fire . did you make some sort of deal with the Ministry of Magic?"

"I-I haven't done anything."

"Did the Ministry do something to you?" Voldemort stepped forward and Harry edged further into the wall, his legs scraping uselessly against the ground in an effort to keep away from Voldemort. Harry shook his head.

"Don't lie to me Harry," said Voldemort menacingly. He stepped closer again and crouched down on the floor so that he was eye to eye with Harry. "I can see you've been injured . this scar on your forehead, for example," and one of his bony fingers reached out and touched Harry on his scar.

That was too much for Harry. His scar burst with pain and he screamed. Shocked, Voldemort jumped back but quickly regained control. He grabbed Harry by the shoulders and started to shake him.

Harry tried desperately to push Voldemort away from him. He felt like he was going to die, being so close to the source of his pain. The hands let go of him and he was pushed onto the ground, but he couldn't stop screaming. He could feel Voldemort's anger flowing across him like heat.

Angrily, Voldemort strode over to the door and flung it open. "Draco!" he yelled.

Malfoy came running in a second later. "My lord?" he inquired, swiftly falling to one knee, glancing uneasily at Harry, who was writhing and screaming on the floor.

"The Ministry has obviously put Harry under some curse," said Voldemort angrily. "I cannot go near him without causing him pain. Find out what is wrong with him."

Voldemort stepped back a couple of metres until Harry stopped screaming. He struggled to control his breathing. It hurt so much, being this close to Voldemort, but he was far enough away, for Harry to stop himself screaming.

"Harry?"

It was Malfoy. He squatted down next to Harry and awkwardly brushed Harry's hair away from his forehead. An involuntary spasm went through Harry. No one except Voldemort had ever touched his scar before.

"Does it hurt when the Dark Lord is near you?" said Malfoy, and he grabbed Harry around his arms and pulled him up.

Harry nodded. He could barely stand and had to lean on Malfoy for support.

"Where does it hurt?"

Harry couldn't answer. He just put a shaking hand to his scar and rubbed it, trying to stop the pain. Voldemort made the connection quicker than Malfoy.

"Is it that scar on your forehead?" he said urgently and stepped forward.

The pain hit Harry before he could react. He screamed and pushed himself away from Malfoy. Luckily, the pain didn't last long until it had stopped. Obviously Voldemort had stepped away. Harry tried to pull himself to his feet but found his arms were too weak. Funny choking sounds were coming from his mouth. It took Harry a while to realise that he was sobbing.

"Take Harry to a secure room," Voldemort was saying. "I will contact my Ministry spies to find out what curse they have put him under."

The next second Harry was lifted off the ground with a charm, his feet dangling above the floor and levitated out of the room. Red dots were swirling in front of his eyes and Harry could barely register what was happening.

The next thing he knew, he was lying on a very comfortable double bed.

Harry blinked once or twice, staring at the ceiling. This was strange. Had he died and gone to heaven?

He sat up quickly and looked around him in astonishment. He was in a huge ornately decorated room. The walls were painted a deep blue and the furniture, including the double bed he was lying on, all seemed to be rimmed with gold.

Well. This wasn't what Harry had expected. He got up and walked over to one of the doors and opened it. There appeared to be a bathroom through there, also ornately decorated with gold rimming. Warily, Harry looked around the rest of the room. His eyes lit upon a wardrobe and he hurriedly opened it. Most of the robes in there were black and Harry put one over his Muggle clothes gratefully. He also selected a white Deatheater mask. There. He was perfectly camouflaged.

He stared at himself in the mirror, feeling very strange to be dressed as a Deatheater and walked over to the other door, an iron one which looked very much locked.

Harry tried to open it anyway, but it didn't move. Feeling panicked at the thought of being trapped in this strange room he slammed his fists against the door, alternately pulling and pushing at the door handle. Fear was rising up in him. _Was this some sort of game of Voldemort's? Keeping him in here until he went insane? _

As Harry's panic reached fever pitch the door suddenly gave a click and swung smoothly open. He stared at it in astonishment. _Had he done that?_ Harry didn't bother to figure it out though, just grateful to be free.

He stepped out into the dark passageway and found he couldn't see for a second, having become used to the brightness in the room. Carefully, Harry shut the door to his room and started down the left, narrowing his eyes to see better.

He didn't really have a clue where he was going and he was starting to feel worried. None of the Deatheaters he had passed had noticed anything but hardly any of them were wearing masks, and it would be only so long until someone noticed he was missing.

_Follow a wall, _he thought. _When you're lost you should always follow a wall. _

He turned left and started to follow a wall and whether from luck, or the wall idea he soon reached a large room containing a fireplace. He glanced at it quickly and saw to his relief that there was floo powder above it.

He crossed the room quickly and grabbed some floo powder. The fire flared up automatically and Harry threw the floo powder in. He was just about jump in the fire when a sharp voice stopped him.

"What are you doing?"

Harry spun around quickly. Malfoy was standing there, staring in puzzlement at him.

"What are you doing?" he said again. "No one's allowed to leave until the next morning except the Ministry spies, and I know for a fact that they've all gone."

Harry's mind raced. "Er-I've been appointed a secret mission by Vol-the Dark Lord just now," he said, cringing inside his mask. _Couldn't he have thought of anything better than that?_

Malfoy's eyes narrowed. "I haven't heard anything about that."

"That's because it's a _secret_ mission," Harry offered.

"The Dark Lord does not - wait, is that you, Harry?" Malfoy said, staring intently at Harry.

"No," said Harry quickly. "I'm just a normal Deatheater . er, kill all Mudbloods and all that."

Malfoy laughed. "You can't fool me Harry, I recognise your voice. Come on. I've got to take you back to your room. The Dark Lord said you're not allowed to leave," and he gestured for Harry to follow him.

Harry stared at Malfoy in amazement (_Did he actually think that would work?_), before instinct kicked in and he ran at Malfoy, punching him and throwing him to the ground.

"What the-?"

Harry ignored Malfoy's exclamation and concentrated on trying to grab his wand. Malfoy fought back, trying to kick Harry away.

"Get off Harry! What do you think you're doing?"

Feeling he wasn't going to be able to get Malfoy's wand, Harry punched him squarely in the nose and ran over to the fireplace. He jumped in and yelled "The Leaky Cauldron!" before the room swirled away.

* * *

**Harry Potter Lives! **

Emmeline Vance scanned the article in distaste. The bumbling Minister messing up things as usual, letting Harry Potter escape. She was slightly worried about the claims that he was insane though. He had been very difficult to fight against before the fire, but if he was insane they wouldn't be able to predict what he would do.

She sighed. Lily and James would be really hurt by this news. They had planned to let Potter join the Order of the Phoenix when he was older and his betrayal had affected them greatly. It would be even worse for them if Potter really was insane.

The fire in the corner flared briefly and Emmeline glanced over in disinterest. What she wasn't prepared for; was a Deatheater stepping out of the flames. Actually, tripped and fell would be the correct term.

The young man got to his feet and everyone in the pub froze when they saw his white mask. _Don't do anything,_ Emmeline said to herself. _Don't do anything unless he attacks. _

The Deatheater didn't seem like he was going to attack anyone though. He looked around, obviously surprised at the looks he was getting before saying, "Oh right, the mask," and pulled it off.

Emmeline found herself staring at the smiling face of Harry Potter.

"Don't worry," he said, still grinning at the silent pub. "I'm not really a Deatheater."

These strange words galvanised Emmeline into action. She jumped up and fired a stunning curse at a surprised Harry Potter, who dodged quickly under a table. Emmeline approached the table warily; not knowing what Potter was capable of. But before she could reach him she was distracted by the fire flaring and another man stepping out.

Draco Malfoy, suspected Deatheater.

Malfoy didn't seem particularly concerned with anyone else in the pub so Emmeline Vance's fears of a Deatheater raid were quashed instantly. His pale eyes scanned the room quickly before seeing Potter hiding behind the table.

"Harry!" he yelled.

Potter glanced up, saw Malfoy and jumped up and ran. Malfoy fired a stunning curse and Potter dodged it and ran out of the door leading to Muggle London.

And just as suddenly as they had arrived, the two teenagers were gone.

Emmeline considered chasing after them but knew she wouldn't get very far. She sank into her chair. The rest of the pub broke out into excited whispers. That, Emmeline decided, was the strangest thing she'd every seen. It was quite obvious that Potter was mad just from the sight of him grinning. Dumbledore would have to be told. As would the Order. This was bad. They didn't just have Potter on the loose, but an insane Potter. _One who smiled._

Harry sprinted down the Muggle pavement. He figured Muggle London was safer, since every witch and wizard seemed to want him dead.

He could hear Malfoy behind him. Harry was a fast runner, but it sounded as though Malfoy was just as fast. His Quidditch reflexes kicked in and he swerved to the left, avoiding the ray of red light.

"Get lost Malfoy!" he yelled over his shoulder and he ran across the busy road, ignoring the hoots from the angry drivers._ Malfoy should have more difficulty getting across, since he's probably never seen a car before, _he thought.

He had to find somewhere to hide. He couldn't run for much longer. His first thought was the Ministry, but he quickly scratched that idea. They were the ones who had put him in a cell in the first place. He would have gone to Hogwarts, but he didn't know if the train went there any time other than the start of school. And he couldn't call the Knight Bus without his wand. He was going to have to think of a plan soon though.

A curse suddenly hit Harry and he tripped, tumbling over and over._ A bloody trip jinx,_ he thought in annoyance. _Figures I'd have to be caught by that one again. _Harry rolled over once more until he came to a stop flat on his stomach, momentarily dazed. He lifted his head and looked ahead.

There was a hotdog stand further up the street. Harry squinted at it. A man there was chopping onions with a knife. Chopping. Knife.

Harry jumped up suddenly and put on an extra burst of speed and reached the stall. He grabbed the knife from the man who was too surprised to do anything and skidded around the next corner into a deserted alleyway. He leaned against the wall and tried to catch his breath.

Malfoy skidded around the corner a second later, only to find himself confronted with the knife Harry had grabbed just before. Malfoy leaned back slightly to avoid impaling himself in the throat.

"Give me your wand," said Harry shakily.

Malfoy just stood there. "I'm not going to hurt you Harry," he said, holding up his hands. "What's the matter? Why did you run away?"

"Give me your wand Malfoy," Harry repeated. He moved the knife closer to Malfoy's throat.

Malfoy eyed the knife cautiously. He wasn't a coward, but what would be the point of resisting if he was dead? He handed his wand over.

Harry sighed in relief. "Sorry," he said and he fired a _petrificus totalus_ curse at Malfoy, feeling the wand shudder a bit, and ran. He tore down the next small street and after checking to see if anyone was watching, held up his wand.

There was a bang and the triple-decker Knight Bus appeared in front of him. A gangly teenager jumped out and started reeling out the same speech Harry remembered from his third year.

"Welcome to the Knight Bus, emergency transportation for the stranded-"

"I know," Harry interrupted, grinning. "Hi Stan."

Stan Shunpike goggled at him, his face turning pale under his pimples. Harry pushed past him and jumped onto the bus. Stan regained his senses and jumped on after him.

"You're wotzisname - Harry Potter!"

"Yeah," said Harry. "You remembered. Can you take me to Ottery St Catchpole?"

"Harry!"

Harry spun around quickly. Malfoy was tearing up the street after him. "I'd go if I were you," he said to the bus driver. "That's a Deatheater."

Ernie Prang turned pale and quickly shut the doors. There was another bang and Harry landed on the floor. Stan was staring at him. Harry smiled at him apologetically.

"I'm afraid I can't pay," he said. "The Ministry must have taken my money. I'll pay double the next time I'm on the Knight Bus."

Stan nodded his head very quickly. "We don't mind," he said hurriedly. "We're going to Ottery St wotzits anyway. _Aren't we Ernie?_"

"Ar," said Ernie.

Harry stood up and looked back at the bus. The passengers instantly seemed to huddle together, looking anywhere except at him. There were no double seats spare and Harry didn't want to sit on one of the higher levels. He'd just have to sit next to a stranger.

He scanned the seats and saw a brown-haired boy who looked about like he was about Harry's age. Grinning, Harry walked over and sat down next to the boy.

"You don't mind if I sit here, do you?" he asked. The boy turned pale and shook his head. Harry got the feeling that the rest of the bus was listening to his conversation.

"I'm Harry Potter," Harry said and held out his hand before realising that that was the hand that still held the knife. Harry stared at it for moment and then said guiltily, "Ah, I'd forgotten about that," and dropped it on the floor in front of him. He held out his hand again and the boy shook it, letting go as quickly as possible.

Harry stared in front of him for a while but got bored quickly and said to the boy, "Do you go to Hogwarts?"

"Y-yes," stuttered the boy. "I'm in my fifth year."

"Really?" Harry said, feeling happier than he should've, just glad he could actually talk to someone properly. "I'm in sixth year. I don't really remember you though."

The boy didn't say anything and Harry sighed, leaning back in his seat a bit more. "It's been a really strange day today for me, you know."

The boy looked slightly interested and the woman opposite Harry fidgeted in her seat, as though trying to listen.

"Yeah, people have been acting really weird," said Harry getting more into his story. "Do you know that someone tried to curse me in the Leaky Cauldron? And then I've had loads of Ministry people saying I'm a Deatheater which is just-just crazy!"

"Ottery St Catchpole!"

Harry jumped up. "That's my stop," he said to the boy. "I suppose I'll see you at Hogwarts," then he paused, looking a bit doubtful. "Well, that's if the Ministry stops trying to lock me up in Azkaban."

Harry stood up and got off the bus. It was strange that he was the first passenger to be let off, as he hadn't thought the Burrow was anywhere near London.

"Thanks!" he yelled, as the Knight Bus tore off.

He looked around him. Ottery St Catchpole was a mainly Muggle village, he remembered. He should be reasonably safe from any mad wizards or witches. As he tucked Malfoy's wand into his pocket, he realised that maybe people seemed scared of him on the bus because he still had that knife with him. Plus the fact that his Deatheater mask was hanging off his neck by a bit of string couldn't have helped either.

He tossed his mask into the nearest bush and started to walk up the village.

Elfy19

So sorry it took ages to update! There are review replies on the 1st chapter because when I first published this it was only a teaser and I uploaded the full chapter about a week later.

Kata Malfoy

Yeah, I like it when Harry's confused. As for Voldemort ... well, I always have difficulty writing him. I think that in this chapter he's sort-of inspired by Darth Vader. I've just been introducing my little brother to Star Wars so I've watched all 5 films in a week!

gaul1

Thanks!

Lothian

Thanks, I hope you like what happens with Harry. Like I said before, I just had a creative burst and writing this chapter was just so fun.


	3. Breakdown

Disclaimer

I don't own Harry Potter or any of the characters from the Harry Potter books and I'm not making any money from this.

Author Notes

This chapter isn't betaed again so if you find a spelling mistake or something, just ignore it. Does anyone here want to be my new beta-reader? Come on, you get chapters early, you get extra bits that _never_ get put into the story, you can change the story slightly to how you like it. Have I tempted anyone? Oh well, e-mail me if you do want to beta this. It is important, the chapters are better when they've been beta-read.

Breakdown

"Hey Fred, George!"

The twins looked around to see Ron running up the garden towards them. They immediately hid their new invention behind them. Ron looked suspiciously at them.

"What's that?" he asked.

"Nothing," the twins replied in unison.

Ron looked like he was going to ask more but the news he had was clearly more important.

"Oh, doesn't matter. Anyway, you'll never guess what I overhead Emmeline telling mum and dad!" he said. "You know Harry Potter? Well, Emmeline says she saw him in the Leaky Cauldron!"

"What!"

"Yeah, I know. It's weird. She says he came out of the fireplace with his Deatheater mask on and then he took it off and said something like, 'It's alright. I'm not a Deatheater.'"

"Did he try to kill anyone?" said George excitedly.

Ron looked a bit doubtful. "Well, Emmeline said she tried to stun him and he dodged, but I guess he must've fired a few Unforgiveables."

"That is so cool," said Fred fervently. "Let's go tell Ginny."

Ron's reply was cut off by a shout coming from the road.

"Hey Ron!"

The three boys turned around quickly and stared. Harry Potter was standing outside their house.

Harry walked up the middle of the road, feeling better already. Ron wouldn't believe he was a Deatheater. Harry would go to see him and they would sort this mess out. Harry was sure there was some sort of reasonable explanation for why the Ministry was after him.

He stretched out his arms and spun around, ignoring the glances from Muggles, who probably thought he was wearing some kind of a black dress.

He turned back to walking up the road, resolutely ignoring the still unexplainable fact that he had seen three dead people in two days. There was probably a reasonable explanation for that as well. Maybe Voldemort had been planting visions in his mind or something.

The Burrow was just up ahead and Harry could hear faint voices coming from it. The Weasleys would be able to sort everything out. He ran the rest of the way when he saw three redheads standing outside the house.

"Hey Ron!" he yelled happily.

Ron turned around and Harry saw the twins were with him. All three were wearing identical expressions of shock. Harry started to run up but to his astonishment Fred immediately raised his wand and shot a curse at him. Harry acted quickly and jumped behind a nearby wall.

"Stop bloody trying to curse me!" he shouted. "I'm not a bloody Deatheater!"

There was no response and Harry gripped Malfoy's wand tightly. Maybe he'd have to disarm Ron and the twins before they'd listen. He heard footsteps on the gravel getting closer and he jumped up from behind the wall and fired a disarming curse. Fred's wand shot into Harry's hand but before he could disarm anyone else, George shot a stunning curse at him and he collapsed on the ground.

"Bloody hell," said Fred, staring at the crumpled black form on the ground. "Do you think he heard us talking about him?"

"What?" said George. "You mean like those Muggle movies where you say the guy's name three times and he suddenly appears and kills you?"

"I'm going to get mum and dad," said Ron staring at the figure.

"Yeah, go do that," said George shakily. "We'll make sure he doesn't move."

Fred nodded and very carefully moved closer to the Deatheater to try and get his wand back.

Ron ran up to the house and into the kitchen, where Ginny was animatedly telling Mr and Mrs Weasley some story. They all looked around when he came running in.

"Mum? Dad?" said Ron taking a deep breath and wearing an expression that suggested he was going to a funeral. "Harry Potter is outside in the garden and he's here to kill us."

Everyone froze. There was silence for a few seconds.

"This had better not be a joke," Mr Weasley finally managed.

"It's not a joke," said Ron quickly. "Me and Fred and George were talking about him and then he suddenly appeared outside the house because we said his name!"

"Because you said his name?" said Ginny doubtfully.

"Like those Muggle movies we saw!"

Mr Weasley looked very pale. He stood up and grabbed his wand and walked carefully over to the door. He looked outside and relaxed visibly. "At least he's unconscious," he said and motioned for the rest of the family to follow him.

Harry blinked slowly, trying to clear the blurriness in front of his eyes. His head ached. He tried to move but was stopped by something tying him down. He tried to move again but there was just a loud bang as something hit the floor. Harry sat there for a while before his dazed mind processed what had happened.

He was tied to a chair … there were people watching him … George had stunned him…

"Wha-?" Harry tried to say as he squinted around him. It was getting really annoying not having his glasses.

"He's awake," said one of the people. Harry stared at the person for a few seconds before realising it was Mr Weasley. Mrs Weasley and Percy were standing nearby.

"Wha-" Harry tried to say again. "What are you doing Mr Weasley?"

Harry recoiled when Mr Weasley stood up suddenly and jabbed his wand into Harry's throat. Harry swallowed and tried to press himself further into his chair. Mr Weasley had never acted like this before.

"What," said Mr Weasley in an uncharacteristically dangerous voice, "were you coming here to do?"

"I-I just," Harry started to say. "I just wanted to see Ron."

Mrs Weasley involuntarily turned to look at the door, where Harry assumed Ron, Ginny and the twins were eavesdropping. Mr Weasley looked even angrier at this answer.

"Are you saying-" he said through gritted teeth, pressing his wand harder against Harry's neck. "Are you saying that my son is a Deatheater? That he's some sort of ally of yours?"

"Ron's not a Deatheater!" Harry yelled, jerking his chair back from Mr Weasley with a clunk. "And neither am I! Why can't everyone leave me alone and stop trying to put me in Azkaban! I haven't done anything!"

Mr Weasley's reply was cut off by a banging on the door. Percy and Mr and Mrs Weasley swivelled around while Harry discreetly tried to look out of the window. He squinted. There were two Aurors standing outside banging on the door and looking angry.

It was amazing how much Harry had grown to fear Aurors. He paled and glanced fearfully at the three other people in the room. He opened his mouth, whether to plead for help or what, he didn't know, but was interrupted by the door flinging open.

"There are some Aurors at the door," said Ron breathlessly. "They say Harry Potter took a Knight Bus here and they're searching all the houses for him. What shall I tell them Dad?"

Mr Weasley looked suddenly unsure and Harry took his chance. He moved his chair forwards and grabbed Mr Weasley's robe as best as he could with tied hands.

"Please don't tell them I'm here," he begged. "I haven't done anything. I don't even _know_ why they're chasing after me."

Mr Weasley fixed his eye on Harry and stared at him contemplatively. "You really don't remember anything?" he asked.

"I don't," said Harry quickly, knowing it was lie, but sensing it was best just to agree with them.

Mr Weasley hesitated and glanced over at the door again.

"Please don't," Harry said. "Get Dumbledore first at least. He can - he can sort this out."

"Dumbledore would want to know first," Percy said quietly. "And he is in charge of you-know-what."

Ron looked a bit mystified by all this 'you-know-what' business but Mr Weasley nodded. Harry smiled suddenly in relief, the first real smile since all of this had started. The four Weasley's stared at him and Harry fidgeted a bit under their gaze, feeling uncomfortable.

"Er-thanks," he said awkwardly, thinking that was what they were expecting him to say.

Mr Weasley motioned at Mrs Weasley to follow and whispered something in Percy's ear. The door slammed shut a second later.

Harry stared at Percy and Ron for a second and then carefully leaned back on his chair until it was leaning against the wall. He pressed his ear against the wall and tried to listen. He glanced at Percy and Ron but they didn't seem particularly bothered by this. In fact, Ron had just got out two extendable ears and was already handing one to Percy.

Harry turned away from them and tried to concentrate on eavesdropping as best as he could. He couldn't hear very much but he heard muffled voices as Mr Weasley told the Aurors outside some excuse to make them go away.

Footsteps passed close by to where Harry assumed the kitchen was. Next thing he heard was Mr Weasley's voice clearly saying "Albus Dumbledore!"

Harry's foot twitched, this was it. Dumbledore would believe him, of course he would. After everything that had happened last year there was no way he couldn't. He had to believe him … he had to…

"…Harry Potter here," Mr Weasley said. "Could be … too dangerous here … alert Ministry…"

Harry frowned and tried to press himself further into the wall, annoyed that he couldn't hear better. The next few words were just a blur to Harry but the next sentence came out remarkably clear.

"Don't untie him until I get there," came Dumbledore's voice. "I want to question him before he gets taken to Azkaban."

There was a loud snapping noise and Harry jerked back from the wall. His throat felt very tight. Dumbledore thought he was a Deatheater. Dumbledore. _Dumbledore_! He felt dizzy and there was a strange ringing noise in his ears.

Harry looked down. The ropes that had been tying him were in pieces around him. That had been the snapping noise…

Suddenly Harry jumped up and barrelled into Ron, as though he had been planning this all along.

Socked, Ron fought back but Harry's anger was stronger and in a few seconds he had Ron in a headlock with his wand pointed at the back of his head.

"Let me past, Percy," said Harry, feeling as though someone else was talking. "Or Ron gets it."

He tightened his grip on Ron's throat for emphasis and Percy paled and moved aside from the door. Carefully Harry edged out of the door, still holding onto Ron, keeping his eye on Percy in case he did anything.

Mr Weasley and Dumbledore were still talking when Harry entered the kitchen, dragging a struggling Ron with him. They stopped the instance they saw him, and Dumbledore's head fixed Harry with a piercing look from the fireplace.

"Ron!" Mrs Weasley burst out in panic.

"Let go of my son," said Mr Weasley in a barely controlled voice, clenching his fists.

Harry shook his head distractedly and tried to ignore him.

He turned to Dumbledore and said in a wavering voice close to tears, "Why didn't you believe me Dumbledore? I thought that after everything that happened last year you would trust me. I thought you-you weren't going to lie to me anymore."

When Dumbledore spoke it was in a very calm and gentle voice. "We can discuss this Harry, if you wish, after you put Ron Weasley down."

Harry was shaking. "No," he said. He was feeling anger rising up in him again. Dumbledore was talking to him like he was a kid. He still wasn't taking him seriously. "No, you had your chance Dumbledore. I'm-I'm going."

And with that he threw Ron into Mr Weasley and ran out of the door onto the road.

Harry hated this. He hated running away from people. He hated it when people didn't believe him. In other words, he hated everything about this situation.

One of the twins sent a stunning curse at him and Harry swerved to the right to avoid it. He pelted down the village road, running towards the outskirts of the village, thinking that the Aurors would be somewhere in the centre of the village.

His legs were starting to get tired now. He glanced behind him and saw that Mr Weasley and the twins were still running after him. Seeing a stile in the hedgerows he quickly vaulted over it and ran down the footpath, which led quickly into a forest.

_Perfect_, he thought, _more space to lose the twins and Mr Weasley_. He ran down a steep bank to the right, wincing as he ran through a patch of nettles, jumped over a stream at the bottom of the hill and sprinted to the left.

The hill on his right was starting to get really steep now and as there wasn't much cover on the footpath he was on, Harry started to climb up the hill, grabbing onto tree branches to pull himself up.

He couldn't see the stream for all the trees in the way, which he assumed was a good thing, as it meant no one else could see him. The Weasleys were splashing around down below and Harry heard one of the twins swear when he got stung by a nettle.

"Bloody nettles," said one of the twins. "Bloody Hackfall woods. Face it dad, we've lost him. We'd better firecall the Ministry or the Order and tell them to start searching the surrounding area."

Harry sat very quietly in the tree he was perched on and waited until he heard the Weasley's footsteps fade. He was shaking again, probably from the cold. He had to get of here, Aurors were going to search the place. They probably had charms to find out where people were hiding.

He dropped quietly from the tree, landing in sticky mud. His eyes scanned the surroundings, screwed up against the dusk light. He had to find somewhere to hide first, somewhere as far away from this forest as possible.

Harry crept into the town. It was dark by now and the only people out were drunk teenagers. He could stay here until the morning. After that, well, he wasn't sure if there were any wizards around. And he wasn't going to wait around to find out.

His footsteps sounded very loud in the silence of the night but Harry tried to comfort himself by thinking that no one would awake at this time, and even if they were, they'd probably be watching TV.

There was a church up ahead and Harry ran towards it gratefully. Maybe it would all be all right. He could curl up to sleep against the door and in the morning he'd wake up and everything would be okay. Of course it would.

Harry carefully sat down and leaned against the door, rubbing his legs where they had been stung by nettles. He shifted around a bit, trying to get comfy and rested his head against the cold door.

In about an hour he began to dream.

_He was sitting in a chair, chains tying him down; surrounding by the Wizengamot. Umbridge was standing in front of him, a foul black bow perched on top of her hair. _

_"The accused is present!" shouted Umbridge. "How do you plead, Mr Potter, to the claims that you used Cruciatus, on Bellatrix Lestrange, a fine upstanding woman and a valued member of the Wizarding community?" _

_"He's guilty!" came a shriek from Bellatrix. "He did it!"_

_"How do you plead?" Umbridge repeated._

_"I-uh," Harry stuttered. "Well, I-uh did but-" _

_"Guilty!" shrieked Bellatrix again. _

_"But I only did it because of what she did!" Harry yelled. "She killed Sirius! It was her! You should be putting her in Azkaban!"_

_"Guilty," said Umbridge in a self-satisfactory way. "100 years in Azkaban." _

_"No!" Harry shouted at Umbridge. "That's not fair!" _

_But Umbridge just looked at him in her froggy way … and then she was a frog, grabbing a fly out of the air with her long tongue._

"No, no," Harry murmured, twisting around in his sleep. "It was Bellatrix. She did it. Don't send me to Azkaban. I didn't do anything … I didn't … I didn't…"

"Get up," said a new voice suddenly.

Harry opened his eyes blearily. Someone was standing over him, someone with long dark hair.

"Sirius?" said Harry, confused.

Someone laughed. A woman. "I don't think so. You should be grateful it isn't him though. He's out for blood apparently. Now get up."

Harry blinked, his vision becoming clearer. "I didn't do anything. I'm innocent."

Another Auror, a man, grabbed onto his arms and pulled him up sharply. "Shut up," he said, roughly tying Harry's hands together.

Harry struggled against the man. "No. Get off me. Let me go!" he said, his voice cracking with panic. "Don't send me to Azkaban."

"I'm sorry Potter," said the woman. "But there really isn't anywhere else you can go. Unless of course, you can prove you weren't there at there at the murders of about twenty people."

The other Auror snorted.

Panic was rising in Harry. He felt like he was on the edge of insanity. He kicked out at the man and tried to free himself when he felt the swirling sensation of a porkey. He landed a second later in the foyer of the Ministry of Magic. The two Aurors grips on his arm had not lessened.

The two Aurors led him over to a man behind the desk, who looked up and paled when he saw Harry.

"We're here to escort the Deatheater Harry Potter to a secure holding cell," said the female Auror smoothly.

"Er-go right ahead," said the man.

"No-wait, you can't do this," Harry said in panic. "I haven't done anything."

The two Aurors said nothing and Harry felt a sort of suicidal urge rise up in him. He kicked the female Auror in the leg and tried to pull himself free. The woman swore and the male Auror hit Harry across the face.

"Let me go!" Harry screamed, kicking and scratching and biting the Aurors in a desperate attempt to escape. "Let me go!"

Harry kicked out at the two Aurors and yelled and the Aurors tried desperately to shut him up, or at least reach their wands to stun him. Between the three of them, they had created a fairly big disturbance. The flow of Ministry witches and wizards walking to their jobs had stopped as mostly everyone in the main foyer stopped to watch.

Harry's failed escape attempt ended abruptly when a new person grabbed both his arms and twisted them cruelly behind his back. Harry gasped and froze at the pain.

"Finished with your little tantrum?" said a voice in his ear.

It was Sirius. He wasn't dead. Harry trembled and then, quite abruptly, started to cry.

The hands holding Harry's arms behind his back loosened in shock. Harry wanted to sit down; he wanted someone to hold him. He didn't want to be standing in the middle of the Ministry crying.

There were whispers now, as people stared at the sight of Harry Potter crying. Harry hated them. Couldn't they look somewhere else?

Sirius loosened Harry's arms and tried to turn him around, to lead him down to a cell, but Harry abruptly flung his arms around Sirius, crying into his chest. Sirius stopped in shock but it didn't last for very long. He pulled Harry off him angrily, convinced this was some sort of trick, and tied his hand behind his back with a charm and started to pull him through the foyer down to the maximum security cells.

Harry was still crying, though he was trying desperately to stop. It felt like he was crying for everything bad that had ever happened to him, for all the times he hadn't cried. He couldn't run anymore. He was going to have to face up to everyone, no matter what the consequences.

Author Notes

For anyone in America, nettles are the worst plants in England. If you touch them, they sting you (like a bee sting), it hurts a lot. The worst thing in the world you can do is fall into a patch of nettles ... naked. I suppose the American equivalent is poison ivy, just not poisonous.

And Hackfall woods is a little cameo; it's the woods near where I used to live.

Oh and thanks to everyone else who reviewed, I do read the reviews you know, and it's really great to hear from any readers.


	4. The Trial

Disclaimer 

I don't own Harry Potter or any of the characters and I'm not making any money from this.

Author Notes

Okay, first, thanks to Anilia Hawkeye for beta-reading this chapter. To my other beta-readers glare, where have you been? I really needed this chapter betaing. sigh, well if you lot are still alive then could you e-mail the betaed version to me? There are still some things I wasn't too keen on in this chapter.

And this chapter is dedicated to ... my reviewers! WOO! All of you lot are just fantastic. You know, I'm so pathetic that I check the review page twice a day to see if there are any new reviews, so thanks everyone.

It's a long chapter, 18 pages, double the normal amount, so I suppose it was worth the wait. Go read it then.

The Trial 

Dumbledore stared at the Deatheater lying asleep on the narrow bed in a maximum-security cell. Any edges in the room had been smoothed into a gentle curve; the walls all had extra strength cushioning charms placed on them. These measures were partly to prevent a prisoner using anything as a weapon but mainly it was to prevent any unpleasant … accidents the prisoners might inflict on themselves.

As Dumbledore watched, Harry Potter twitched in his sleep. It was strange … from looking at him, you would think he was just an ordinary boy … not a cold-hearted killer…

"Oh Harry," sighed Dumbledore. "Where did I go wrong? Why couldn't Hogwarts protect you?"

Harry started to mutter now, turning in the bed, and Dumbledore leaned forward to hear what the Deatheater was saying.

"Mum, mum, he's going to kill me, he's going to take my blood," Harry murmured. "Don't let him kill Cedric…"

Harry's foot kicked reflexively and he let out a sob. "He's killed Cedric, he's going to kill me next. Dad, come and save me, mum, help me…"

Dumbledore looked around and leaned forward but Harry was silent, still curling and uncurling in anxiety on the small bed. _I have to remember this,_ Dumbledore thought. _And present it as evidence in his trial. Perhaps I can persuade them to give him a lifetime sentence rather than the Kiss. _

He was puzzling over what Harry had said earlier…

"Why didn't you believe me Dumbledore?"

The simple statement revealed innocence Dumbledore hadn't believed Harry Potter still possessed. Why had he thought Dumbledore had lied to him?

_Maybe the papers really are true, _Dumbledore mused. _Maybe the simplest explanation was the truest … the Healer that had initially questioned Harry had said there was a likely chance of brain damage … something must have happened in the year Harry Potter disappeared … something to break his sanity._

Another moan from Harry broke Dumbledore out of his thoughts.

"He's not dead," Harry whispered in pain. "Sirius, don't be dead. Stay away … stay away from the Veil … she'll push you through … oh god, it was that bitch. I hate her, I'll kill her, she killed Sirius…"

The Deatheater let out a choked sob and buried his face deeper into the bed. He lay still. Dumbledore waited, to see if Harry would say anything else but after a few minutes he stood up and strode quickly out of the cellblock, to show a few people this memory.

......

James stood silently in the penseive as he watched the scene come to the close. Finally he felt his stomach flip as if he had just done a backwards somersault and the next second he was standing in the courtroom shortly to hold Harry Potter's trial.

He glanced at his friends. Sirius was looking very disturbed and Lily looked like she was trying not to cry. Remus met James' eyes; he had a thoughtful look in his eyes that meant he was planning something. James couldn't tell Peter's reaction, he was staring intently at the ground.

"What does it mean?" said James finally to Dumbledore.

Dumbledore sighed and rested his fingers together, thinking deeply. "The Veil Harry is talking about is a project in the Department of Mysteries. I have no idea how he managed to find out about it but many Unspeakables believe it is a gateway to death. Being pushed through it would almost certainly result in death."

"Well why was Harry talking about it then?" Sirius interrupted. "I certainly haven't been pushed through any veil."

"I'm not quite sure Sirius. But I have a theory," said Dumbledore calmly. "It was almost certainly Voldemort that Harry was so scared of in his dream. But what troubles me more is when Harry said 'he's going to take my blood'. Any spell containing a wizard's blood is very powerful and almost always dark. This spell must have been used either to strengthen Voldemort or harm Harry as punishment for the fire."

James stared at Dumbledore sceptically. The rest of the group was wearing the same expression. "Don't take this personally Albus, but it all sounds a bit far-fetched."

"Don't you see?" Dumbledore said, looking around at the group. "The reason Harry was missing for so long after the fire must have been because of this spell Voldemort did. Harry must have escaped only a few days ago. Unfortunately from his recent behaviour I believe his mind may not have survived the spell intact."

"Are you saying that my son's insane?" Lily spoke up, his voice thick with tears.

Dumbledore looked at her sadly. "There aren't many other explanations, Lily. The way he's been acting since Sirius found him has been … bizarre, to say the least." He sighed again. "But it's just a theory. There are many other explanations for Harry's yearlong disappearance and his behaviour. This is just the one I believe is the most likely."

Remus spoke up finally. "Would it help if me and Peter went to speak with him? He was pretty upset when you first brought him in, Sirius. Maybe all he needs is someone to talk to."

"I think you're right, Remus," James said. "Harry didn't react very well when me and Lily went to see him, and I think that we shouldn't let him see Sirius either, after seeing this memory. Maybe he'll be better talking to you and Peter."

......

At the first sound of footsteps Harry sat up, vaguely interested. He was half-hoping it would be a friend, someone who would explain this mess, but in the last few days his list of friends had grown very short. Ron, the twins, the rest of the Weasleys, Dumbledore, Emmeline and every Auror in Britain seemed to believe he was a Deatheater.

However, when he saw who came around the corner, he was not disappointed.

"Professor Lupin!" he cried out, a huge grin on his face.

But the next person who came into view made all the blood from Harry's face drain away and anything he might have said went completely from his mind.

Remus glanced at him, looking unsure. "Harry? Are you-"

Harry cried out, an inhuman strangling noise, and launched himself towards Peter. A spell immediately threw him back into the wall. Harry lay there, stunned for a while, before carefully sitting up.

He walked slowly up to the bars and touched it. A small electric shock made him jump but determination crossed his features and he thrust his hand through the bars.

Remus jumped as Harry's fingers made it just past the spell before Harry launched back and hit the wall.

Circles swirled in front of Harry's eyes but he could just see Professor Lupin standing there next to Wormtail. He was shaking with rage, livid that he couldn't get past the bars and that Remus wasn't doing anything.

"What are you waiting for, Professor?" he managed to say between the shaking. "_Kill_ the bloody, bastard traitor."

Remus' attention sharpened, obviously surprised. "Are you talking about Peter here?"

"YES I'M BLOODY TALKING ABOUT HIM!" Harry screamed.

Remus glanced at Peter. "Maybe you'd better go Peter. Harry doesn't seem to react to you well either."

"Are you sure?" Peter asked, and Harry was shocked by his voice. He sounded almost _concerned_, like he actually cared about Harry.

Remus nodded swiftly and Peter muttered, "See you then," before darting off.

Harry glared at Remus. "Why didn't you do anything? You just let him get away, and now I can't get him back, I can't get him back for everything that _traitor_ has done."

Harry spat on the ground viciously, something he had never done before.

"Peter?" said Remus. "But Peter hasn't done anything. He's not a traitor … surely you know that."

"He is a traitor," Harry insisted, his voice shaking in anger. He seemed to cry or get angry at the slightest thing now.

He sank onto his bed, putting his head in his shaking hands. Just seeing Wormtail was enough to bring back unwelcome thoughts. If Sirius and Lupin had killed Pettigrew in the Shrieking Shack … then Voldemort wouldn't have come back to life, and then … Sirius would still be alive.

"Harry," said Remus hesitantly. "I came here to talk to you. I wanted to find to find out some things."

Harry looked up. "Why?" he asked. "I mean, no-one else wants to talk to me."

Remus ignored this and continued on. "I need to know about a blood ceremony. Has anyone taken your blood?"

"A blood ceremony?" Harry repeated. "Er-yeah, they have … but - why are you bringing this up now? You already know all about it."

Remus leaned forward eagerly. "This is very important, Harry. It could help."

Harry stared at Remus suspiciously. "You mean, help me get out of these bars?"

"Yes…" Remus lied awkwardly. "Sort-of…"

"But there's-there's no need," Harry stated, in a confused tone. "I'm not a Deatheater, I haven't done anything." He felt slightly guilty as he lied, remembering the Cruciatus curse. It was a lifetime in Azkaban if anyone found out.

Remus sighed as he tried to explain. "Harry … just because you don't remember being a Deatheater doesn't mean you _aren't_ a Deatheater."

Harry stared back for a second before abruptly flinging himself onto the bed and burying his head in the pillow.

"Go away," he said, his voice slightly muffled. "I don't want to talk to you anymore. I don't understand anything."

Remus stayed standing, unwilling to leave the conversation where it was. He stared at the boy curled up in the bed. _It's strange, but once I'd almost considered Harry to be my son,_ he thought.

"Why did you change?" he said, voicing his thoughts aloud.

Harry looked up from the pillow, obviously surprised. "I didn't."

"Yes you did," Remus continued, oblivious to the effect his words were having. "Sirius is really disappointed in you … I know he might not say it, but he is."

Harry went very still and said, "Don't say that that."

"But it's true … your parents are as well-"

"DON'T SAY THAT!"

"What-?" Remus started in shock.

"You can't say that!" Harry yelled, his face scrunched up in anger. "You've got no right!"

Remus started to say something but stopped. "I'll just go," he said eventually. "I'm sorry. It seems all I can do is upset you."

......

Harry was lying on his back in a stupor when the screaming first started. He sat up abruptly and edged as close to the bars as he dared.

"Hello?" he said loudly. "What's going on?"

The woman was still screaming faintly in the distance.

"Hey!" Harry yelled again. "Who's th-"

His words were cut off by the feeling of sudden cold emanating from the corridor. The lights began to flicker. Harry backed up against the cell wall and felt a shiver of foreboding run through him.

He closed his eyes for a second and when he opened them again he saw the two Aurors that had captured him outside Ottery St. Catchpole. He stared up at them, shivering uncontrollably.

"W-where's the D-dementors?" he asked, his voice shaking. "What are you - you can't-"

The female Auror just smiled. "Come on Potter. Up. We're here to escort you to your trial."

The bars swung to one side and a hooded black figure emerged. Harry's legs scraped uselessly against the floor as he tried to press himself further into the wall. The death rattle of the Dementor had already started but other noises were starting to fill Harry's head.

_'Bow to death, Harry…' _

_'SIRIUS! SIRIUS! … He hasn't gone! … HE - IS - NOT - DEAD! SIRIUS!' _

_'…neither shall live while the other survives…' _

"No-no," he moaned. "Expecto Patronum, expecto patronum-"

A white wisp of something that looked like smoke emerged from his fingertips but it flickered from life as the Dementor's cloak passed through it. A second later a cold hand gripped his arm and Harry's eyes slid back.

......

"Mr Potter! _Mr Potter!_"

"Huh-?"

Harry opened his eyes and took in his surrounding with dazed confusion. His cheeks were wet and he realised with a sudden shock of embarrassment that he had been crying. He tried to quickly wipe away his tears but his hands wouldn't move. He was tied down.

"What the-?"

Harry looked around quickly. He was sitting in the courtroom where he had been tried for underage magic. Up in the high benches sat the shadowy figures of the Wizengamot. As Harry cautiously sat up straighter the members of the Wizengamot started muttering as if he had done something wrong, their faces aggressive and scared.

Four familiar figures sat in the front row; Albus Dumbledore, Cornelius Fudge, Madame Bones and Kingsley Shacklebolt. Harry stared around the dark courtroom with red-rimmed eyes, bewildered.

"You had a rather adverse and unexpected reaction to the Dementors. I believe you fainted, but it seems that now you are well enough to continue with the trial," said Dumbledore.

Harry looked at him, expecting to see the familiar twinkle in his eyes but there was nothing but a steely glint as he stared at Harry.

"Trial of Harry James Potter," Dumbledore announced, and the immediate scratching sound told Harry that someone was taking notes, "His charges are as follows: assisting the Dark Wizard Lord Voldemort and of being a Deatheater, 6 accounts of murder and causing the deaths of 108 witches and wizards.

"Interrogators: Cornelius Oswald Fudge, Minister for Magic; Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore, Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot; Amelia Susan Bones, Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement; Kingsley Shacklebolt, previously Chief Auror of the Campaign to capture Harry Potter. Court Scribe, Eleanor McKinnon. Witness for the Defense-"

Here Dumbledore stopped and looked around the courtroom expectantly, Harry did as well but after a few seconds he realised the truth. _There was no one to defend him._

"Leave it as a blank," Fudge whispered to the scribe.

"How do you plead?" said Dumbledore.

"To-to those charges?" Harry stammered. When no one answered him he said, "I-er, not guilty, I suppose."

He cleared his throat nervously as the Wizengamot shifted in what was evidently surprise. Fudge was the next person to speak.

"You are Harry Potter of … what is your current address?" he asked.

"It's Number 4 Privet Drive, Surrey."

"Surrey." Fudge stated in a flat tone. Harry suspected he was making fun of him. "You live in Surrey." he repeated.

"Er, yeah."

"Forgive me for appearing impertinent," said Madame Bones. "But most of us are under the impression that you live with You-Know-Who."

"Think before you answer," said Kingsley in his deep voice. "We have concrete evidence of this."

"But - I-I've always lived there," said Harry, getting more and more confused. Why were they bothered about where he lived? Everyone in the front row should know he lived in Privet Drive. "I don't know which newspaper you've been reading to get that information but I live with my aunt and uncle. I've lived there since I was a baby."

"Not with your parents?" inquired Dumbledore.

"My parents are dead," Harry spat out, the words feeling like poison in his mouth.

"Dead." Fudge said in that same flat tone. Harry felt a surge of annoyance. _Can't Fudge just ask me a proper question, instead of repeating everything I say?_

"I think we've found out all we can from this line of inquiry," said Dumbledore, shooting a sharp glance at Fudge.

Fudge nodded and waved his wand, conjuring a photo. Harry narrowed his eyes, but without his glasses, he could hardly see the photo at all. The Wizengamot were all staring at him, as though expecting some reaction.

"Er-" he said timidly, "before we start … could I, have my glasses? I can't see very much."

"No," Fudge stated flatly. "Now, Mr Potter. I have here a photo of a certain witch and wizard. I want you to tell me whether you can recognise them."

Harry squinted at the picture floating in front of him. Two people … one had … light brown hair…

He looked up hesitantly. "I-uh, can't really see it that well … you know, without my glasses."

"Fine!" Fudge snapped in annoyance. "Ocular!" and a pair of glasses appeared on the end of Harry's nose.

"Oh!" Harry exclaimed in recognition. "It's Neville's parents, isn't it?" _Why are they showing this to me?_ he thought inwardly.

"Alice Longbottom died one year ago," said Dumbledore, as if in answer to his unspoken question. "Voldemort believed she had valuable information about the Ministry and other organisations. He sent several Deatheaters and one of his most recognisable and feared Deatheaters. You."

"Wha - me?" Harry spluttered. "But I'm not a - Neville's mum isn't-" It was difficult to get the words out. It was too much to take in. What was Dumbledore thinking? What had changed so much since 5th year to make everyone think like this?

"You arrived at the Longbottom's house in the middle of the night," Fudge continued. "But when Frank and Alice refused your demands, you used Cruciatus on them in an effort to make them give up this information. Aurors arrived too late to capture you and the other Deatheaters and Alice died later in St. Mungo's. Frank survived but the numerous Cruciatus curses left him insane."

"That's - that's-" Harry could hardly speak. "That's the stupidest bloody thing I've ever heard! I haven't used a Cruciatus curse on anyone!"

"No-one?" Dumbledore said. His blue eyes seemed to stare right through Harry. _He knows,_ Harry thought in a panic, _he knows. _

"No-one!" Harry shouted, his voice cracking through stress.

Kingsley spoke up. "I know something about liars, and I know when someone's lying. And you are lying now."

"She deserved it!" Harry screamed before he was even aware of thinking the thought. He gasped, shocked by what he had just said, his breathing sounding harsh in his ears.

"Alice Longbottom deserved to die?" Dumbledore said, looking at Harry in an emotion close to revulsion.

"I-I-" Harry stammered, finding himself unable to speak. "I - don't -"

"Do you have anything else you wish to say, Minister Fudge?" interrupted Madame Bones.

"No," said Fudge and he waved his wand, and the photo disappeared. He waved his wand again and this time tiny ghostly figures rose up. It reminded Harry of Dumbledore's pensieve, when he had shown him the prophesy.

Harry was almost too upset to concentrate on the figures, but as he watched, the ghostly vapour formed into a vague representation of a house and a street. Two men came crashing through the door of the house, clearly panicked about something, and were immediately followed by three Deatheaters wearing white masks.

As Harry watched, the three Deatheaters shot curses at the two other men, who were clearly on the losing side of the duel. Two Muggles with hit with stray curses and finally one of the men was killed; the other followed shortly after.

The shortest Deatheater strode up and kicked one of the two men.

"He's dead," said the Deatheater, and Harry was jolted with shock. The person sounded so familiar, but he couldn't think who it was.

"Come on, let's go," said another Deatheater and he shot up the Dark Mark into the sky before the memory was abruptly cut short.

"So, Mr Potter," said Fudge briskly, all business again. "This is the memory of a Muggle who witnessed the horrendous killings of Gideon Prewett & his brother Fabian Prewett and two Muggles on the twentieth of February, 1994. Do you care to give your version of these events?"

"Me?" Harry said incredulously. "What's this got to with me? Oh, no wait, I'm supposed to have killed those two men and those Muggles as well am I?"

He was getting annoyed again, and he knew it. It was awfully what had happened to those two men, but if the Wizengamot was going to try and pin this one of him as well … well, he wasn't going to be all meek and let them.

"Answer the question," said Madame Bones sternly, looking down at Harry.

"I don't have 'a version of these events'!" Harry yelled. "Because I was never there! I've never been a Deatheater!" _Can't they get that into their thick skulls?_ he added on his head.

"You're pleading innocent to the murders of Gideon, Fabian and the two Muggles then?" asked Kingsley.

"Yes!"

"Can you provide an alibi?" said Dumbledore.

"I was at-" Harry said immediately and then stopped. "What was the date again?" he asked.

"Twentieth of February, 1994," repeated Kingsley.

"Oh that's-" Harry started, suddenly remembering. "That was four days before the second task, I was at Hogwart's then."

"What do you mean by 'the second task'?" asked Madame Bones.

"The Triwizard Tournament!" Harry said annoyed. When no-one seemed to remember it, he went on. "It was held at Hogwarts, and Beaubatons and Durmstrang had come to compete in the tournament as well. I was the fourth champion, and Cedric was the other champion for Hogwarts."

The four members of the Wizengamot at the front looked at each other. The other members high up started to mutter, glaring at Harry as though he was trying to trick them. Finally Madame Bones spoke up again.

"There are several things wrong with your alibi. One, the Triwizard tournament wasn't held two years ago and hasn't been held for centuries. Two, there are only ever three champions. Three, you stopped attending Hogwarts in the middle of your third year and four, we have a recording of you at the scene of the crime."

"What!" Harry sputtered. "No you don't!"

Fudge conjured up the memory again and seemed to fast-forward before freezing it in place.

"Say 'he's dead'," he ordered Harry.

"Er - he's dead," Harry said, confused.

The memory un-froze and Harry heard the voice of the smallest Deatheater say, "He's dead."

"But that's-that's-" Harry said weakly, his brain refusing to accept the possibility. "But I-I don't remember that happening, it can't have happened."

"Our voice print experts confirm that this is your voice. Had anyone been using a spell to sound like you, they would've known," said Madame Bones looking at Harry in a calculatingly way. "So why don't you remember this happening?"

"I-I don't know," Harry stammered. "I don't - I don't understand anything that's happening."

Madame Bones looked over at Dumbledore. "Is it possible that he's lost his memory somehow, Albus?" she asked in a whisper.

"I haven't lost my memory," Harry burst out, trying to explain. "I - at least - I don't think I have. But I didn't do that, I know I wouldn't. I'm not a murderer."

Dumbledore looked carefully at Harry. "Perhaps you should move onto the next incident," he suggested to Fudge.

"The court calls the Witness for the Prosecution, Cedric Diggory," said Fudge loudly and the next second a tall boy emerged from a door to the side of the courtroom and sat down on a chair Fudge conjured. Cedric looked over at Harry in extreme dislike.

Harry's neck twitched slightly and his foot started to shake, tapping against the floor. He couldn't look away from the boy who had died little more than a year ago.

"Mr Potter?" Dumbledore's voice broke through Harry's trance.

Harry glanced wildly back at Dumbledore, his throat constricted. He opened his mouth as if to say something.

"Mr Potter? Are you alright?" Dumbledore again.

"I-I - no."

He bent his down to his hand and carefully wiped his face. He rested his forehead against the arm of the chair and closed his eyes. Comforting black immediately surrounded him and he breathed deeply, calming himself down.

He wasn't in the courtroom anymore, he could be anywhere, he was probably at the Dursley's and Dudley had tied him up for a joke or something. And any second now Aunt Petunia would yell that it was time for tea. He was back at the Dursley's.

As long as his eyes were closed he was anywhere.

"…happened when the Deatheaters attacked?" Fudge was talking.

"There was this banging noise from downstairs and I think we both knew it was Deatheaters," came Cedric's voice.

Harry squeezed his eyes shut and concentrated on breathing in and out. He was at the Dursley's. He was at Hogwarts…

"Cho shoved Lin, her little sister towards me and pushed us both towards the window. We clambered out onto the roof and Cho was about to climb out too, but the-the door flew open."

_Breathe in. Breathe out. I'm not here, I'm not here. _

"Who was there?"

"Deatheaters, of course. I couldn't see, I'd scrambled back out of sight but I saw how many there were, there were about seven and I-I couldn't help her. I had Lin with me, and she was only about six then and if I'd tried to help Cho, I knew we would've all died. I-I would've done something if Lin was there but I couldn't."

"And what happened next?"

"I pulled Lin away from the window and we crawled around the corner on the roof. There was a grate there - those bricks with holes in to let air come into the room - and-and I could see through there. I should've just taken Lin and run but…" Cedric cleared his throat. "The Deatheaters wanted something from Cho, they wanted information, something her parents knew, I didn't know. She wouldn't give it to them. I don't think she even knew anything but they kept asking. And then the Deatheater Harry Potter put a Cruciatus curse on her."

"Is this the same Harry Potter that is currently in this courtroom?"

Harry felt an imagined stare.

"Yes."

"Let the court acknowledge that a witness confirms Harry Potter was there in the attack on Cho Chang."

There was a pause for a second that was filled with the quiet mutterings from the Wizengamot before Cedric continued with his story. "Cho was crying and trying to-to get him to stop but he wanted the information. He used the Cruciatus curse twice before killing her."

"Did he just leave then?" Madame Bones asked.

"No," said Cedric, sounding unsure. "He-he got all the other Deatheaters to leave and then-and then he knelt beside her and stroked her hair. I-I never figured out why he did that."

"How do you plead to Cho Chang's murder after hearing from a witness Mr Potter?" said Fudge smugly.

_I'm not here, I'm not here. _

"Mr Potter!"

_Not here._

The next second someone had yanked Harry's head up. He opened his eyes. He stared at Cedric.

"Not guilty," he said thickly.

The hand let go and Harry's head fell back against the chair.

"Not guilty?" Fudge repeated sitting back in his chair and tapping his fingers impatiently. "Then who do you suppose did kill Cho Chang? How many identical twins do you have running about, Mr Potter?"

"She's not dead," said Harry flatly.

Cedric looked up, hope kindling in his eyes. "You mean Cho?" he asked eagerly. "Where is she then?"

But Kingsley Shacklebolt interrupted Cedric before he could ask anything else. "No, Mr Diggory. Cho is dead, we have solid proof of it. This is just another Deatheater trick."

Cedric's look of hope quickly turned into anger.

"She's alive," Harry repeated. "I saw her a few weeks ago. She was on the Hogwarts Express with her friend Marietta but she was ignoring me because I'd broken up with her just before school en-"

"_What_ are you talking about?" interrupted Madame Bones in an incredulous tone. "I'm so sorry Mr Diggory, Mr Potter is just saying this malicious lie to try and goad you."

"I'm not lying!" said Harry, slight feelings of annoyance coming back to him and waking him out of his numbness. "Cho went out with me for a short while in my fifth year. It was just after her boyfriend, Cedric had died in the Triwizard Tournament so she was crying all the time and it didn't really work out because of that. We broke up before the summer holidays and she was definitely still alive then."

There was a sudden movement from Cedric as though he wanted to punch Harry.

The Wizengamot as muttering to themselves and some were even smirking at Harry, like he was somehow funny.

"If Cedric died," asked Dumbledore, almost gently. "Who's sitting in the witness box?"

"No-one," said Harry automatically, although he was as much surprised by his answer as the rest of the court. "There's no-one sitting in the witness box. It's an empty space. Cedric is dead, he died, he's not alive, there's no-one there."

No-one seemed to know what to say to that. Then Dumbledore spoke, again in that gentle tone, as though Harry was a small child that couldn't understand anything.

"Harry, Cedric is sitting right in front of you. Cho died more than a year ago, you know this."

"I don't want to talk about this anymore," said Harry, his breathing becoming more and more panicky. "I've said I'm not guilty and that's all you need. I'm not saying anymore."

"I think that's all we need from you Cedric, you can leave now."

Cedric scowled at Harry once more before getting up and leaving quietly out of the door.

Harry turned back to Dumbledore and the rest of the Wizengamot. He wished this would just end, how much longer did he have to stay here? But then an unpleasant thought came into his head. _They really believe you're a Deatheater … and you're not doing a very good job of defending yourself … and what happens to Deatheaters? They get put in Azkaban. _

Maybe he wouldn't be leaving, he'd just get taken to Azkaban, and he'd never see any of his friends again.

"The next incident," said Kingsley. "Was just before you disappeared for a year. Along with a team of about twenty Deatheaters you attacked the Daily Prophet's headquarters. It is believed that this was only intended to be a raid but you were discovered shortly in.

"Several Deatheaters were killed very quickly and in an effort to escape you started a fire. Unfortunately this fire quickly got out of hand. Everyone in there was trapped because of the anti-apparation fields and because you and the group of Deatheaters had already disable the Floo Network.

"The building was burnt down and 72 Daily Prophet employees were killed, as well as 14 Aurors who had been summoned to help in the fire and the twenty Deatheaters who were with you. 108 people altogether. Only 5 people escaped. And up until now it was believed that you had died in the fire as well. So how did you escape?"

"And once you'd escaped," asked Madame Bones, not waiting to hear Harry's answer, "how did you get past the Aurors and Ministry workers outside? The whole area was sealed off."

"I don't remember," Harry repeated, a little flustered by all the questions he didn't understand. "I didn't even know the Daily Prophet place got burned down."

The four members of the Wizengamot in the front looked at each other, appearing quite fed-up of Harry saying 'I don't know' to every single question.

"Where did you hide for the last year?" asked Kingsley.

"Um-I don't think I hid anywhere, I was at Hogwarts for my fifth year."

Dumbledore spoke up. "How did you get that scar on your forehead? Was it self-inflicted or did something else give to you?"

"You're joking aren't you?" Harry asked, looked at the Wizengamot in sheer disbelief. "I got it when I was one. Voldemort tried to kill me, to use the killing curse on me but it didn't work."

"Don't be stupid," said Fudge, sounding flustered. "No-one can survive a killing curse."

"Er-except me," said Harry. "But everyone already knows this …"

Inside his head Harry was thinking furiously. Everyone in this courtroom had to know about his scar, he was famous for it, for god's sake._ Maybe it isn't Dumbledore,_ he thought. _Maybe they're just trying to pretend, maybe they're Deatheaters. _

"You're not Dumbledore!" Harry yelled out rather abruptly. "You're all Deatheaters. The real Dumbledore would have known about my scar and so would everyone else. You're just trying to trick me or something!"

Dumbledore's eyebrows flew up in surprise. "The reason I don't know about your scar, Harry, is because you were never attacked when you were one by Voldemort. None of us have ever seen this scar before, so you must have got it during your one year disappearance."

"And why would Deatheaters want to trick you?" Fudge said. "You're a Deatheater yourself."

"No I'm-"

"I think that's enough for now, Harry," said Dumbledore, interrupting. "How do you plead to causing the deaths of 108 witches and wizards?"

"Not guilty," said Harry resignedly. He had just realised his mistake. They couldn't really be Deatheaters, because Deatheaters would know about his scar, and they wouldn't bother having this trial. What would be the point? Voldemort would just want to kill him straight away because of the prophecy.

Fudge looked around. "Does anyone else wish to say something?" he asked.

"I do," said Dumbledore. "I believe something is very wrong with Harry Potter, as some of you may have already guessed from his answers. I wish to present evidence of Harry Potter's current behaviour since he was found by Sirius Black."

"I wasn't found!" Harry burst out. "No-one found me! Sirius is dead!"

Dumbledore ignored him and said, "I call my first witness, Sirius Black."

The door to the side opened up and Sirius stepped out and sat down on a seat. He stared at Harry, looking rather shocked. Harry knew he must look a sight, his eyes were red and his hair was standing up with sweat. He fixed Sirius with a stare before looking away. He shut his eyes.

_No-one's there. No-one's there. No-one's there. _

"How did Mr Potter react when you first found him, Sirius?"

Harry opened his eyes and stared at Sirius. He couldn't look at away. It was just like Sirius. How many times had he wished he could talk to Sirius; that the mirror had somehow worked? But here Sirius was, sitting right in front of him. _It's not him, he's dead, he died, he's dead._

"He didn't seem to understand why I was taking him prisoner," Sirius said. "He kept saying that Lily and James were dead and he thought I was dead as well. He thought I had been pushed behind a veil or something."

"Did he seem dangerous at all?"

"No, he didn't try to stop me taking him prisoner at all. It was easier than I thought it would be."

"In your opinion, was he acting at all like he had done before his disappearance?" asked Dumbledore.

"Not really. I thought he would have at least tried to curse me or something but he didn't do anything."

"What about when you saw him the second time? How did he react then?"

"Well, two other Aurors had tried to bring him after he escaped from the Ministry. I got a message that they had caught him so I went up to the Atrium to meet them. He was fighting with the other Aurors when I found him, trying to escape. So I went and grabbed him, so he couldn't escape."

"And then how did he react?"

"It was strange. When he heard my voice he started crying and - I think he tried to hug me. He wouldn't stop crying until I'd put him into a cell. And he didn't want to get put into a cell either, he tried to grab at me through the bars."

"Thank you, Sirius, that's all."

Sirius stood up and walked away, glancing back to see Harry Potter staring at him. He shivered slightly; it was scary, that way he was staring. He looked back ahead, trying not to trip as he walked out of the door. It was only when he was out of sight that he breathed a sigh of relief.

He looked over at Lily and James, who were waiting to be called in.

"It's scary," he said to them. "It's like he's obsessed with me, he wouldn't look away."

Before Lily or James could answer, they heard Dumbledore saying their names and they walked in.

Harry's foot twitched when he heard Dumbledore say his parent's names but it twitched even more when they walked in and took their seats. _That's it, that's enough. I've had enough. _

"Alright, so I'm mad!" said Harry loudly. "You don't have to keep on doing this, you don't have to parade every dead person I know in front of me."

"So you believe your parents to be dead, Harry?" asked Dumbledore.

"They are dead," said Harry, getting more and more upset. "And I-I don't know who's up there but it's not my parents, my parents-"

He broke off again when he realised he was close to crying. He rested his forehead on his hand again and curled his toes, trying to control himself. He wished he could just find a bed and curl up in it, instead of sitting here in full view of everyone.

"-yelled at us to get out," the man was saying. "We didn't move and he got hysterical. He was yelling that we were dead. I think he thought we were trying to trick him or something."

"And-and then he screamed," said the woman. "And he started sobbing. We didn't know what to do so we just left."

"How had you expected him to react?"

"I don't know," the woman said. "I thought he would be angry and uncaring about us. I thought that if we came to see him he would just say horrible things to us."

"I didn't expect him to react the way he did," said the man. "It seemed like he was really upset but I didn't think he would be emotional or anything like that."

"Do you have any ideas why he acted the way he did?"

"Maybe he was ashamed?" said the man. "But I don't really know, it didn't seem like something Harry would do. He doesn't show emotion very much."

"Thank you," said Dumbledore again. "You may leave." Harry listened to the footsteps and looked up when he heard the door close. _Okay,_ he thought to himself. _There was no one there. That wasn't my parents._

Dumbledore didn't call another witness.

"A few hours after that, Harry Potter escaped," he said. "He had help from other Deatheaters and they transported him to Voldemort. However, our sources say that Harry Potter didn't go with them willingly and that he was actually trying to escape. When he taken to Voldemort, screaming was heard from inside the room. Apparently Voldemort could not go near Harry without causing him pain similar to the Cruciatus curse.

"He was taken to a room but he tried shortly after to escape again. Witnesses in the Leaky Cauldron reported seeing him step out of the fire before being chased into Muggle London by another man, a suspected Deatheater.

"He then caught the Knight Bus, after apparently escaped the other Deatheater. But, he didn't try to harm any of the passengers. On the contrary, witnesses say that he was polite, and _apologised_ for having no money to pay the fare. He started up a conversation with another boy a year younger than him, which is most interesting. He told the boy how confused he was, about people calling him a Deatheater and other people trying to curse him.

"The bus dropped him off at Ottery St. Catchpole where he attempted to visit the Weasleys. They successfully captured him and tied him up. Harry told them that he only wanted to see the Weasley's youngest son, Ron and that he didn't understand why everyone thought he was a Deatheater. I was there at the time, Arthur Weasley firecalled me for assistance. This was when Harry came into the room, holding Ron as hostage. He asked me why I believed he was a Deatheater but before I could answer properly he let go of Ron and ran away. Note that he didn't actually hurt Ron.

"Now you should ask yourself, is this normal behaviour for a Deatheater? Three times he lets himself be captured by Aurors and Ministry wizards and when he is taken to Voldemort, he escapes as soon as possible."

Harry's heart leapt. _Dumbledore doesn't believe I'm a Deatheater! I can get out of here!_

The Wizengamot were muttering now, looking unsurely over at Harry. Dumbledore seemed quite pleased by the response.

"There is one other piece of evidence I have to show you," said Dumbledore. He waved his wand and silvery mist emerged and formed itself into the shape of a bed. Harry leaned forward and saw a small figure curled up on it. Himself.

Harry watched as the figure muttered in its sleep. He felt embarrassed; it was like the Wizengamot could see all his deepest thoughts. When it was over he looked up at Dumbledore, unsure why he had decided to show this as evidence. What did a nightmare prove?

"I believe that Harry was used in very powerful dark spell involving Voldemort. Blood must have been one of the key ingredients, as you can see from this memory and I believe the scar on Harry's forehead was used for the blood."

Dumbledore waved his wand and Harry's hair parted to one side, revealing the scar. Harry quickly tried to push his hair back.

"The shape of his scar is very unusual and must have been an important part of the spell. Many spells can last years and this spell must have lasted about a year and was begun after the fire. Harry only escaped from Voldemort only a few days ago. This must have been why there was so little Deatheater activity last year, as Voldemort must have been completely concerned with this spell. This also explains Harry Potter's bizarre behaviour. A Healer with a Muggle psychology degree managed to interview Harry when he was first caught.

"I call my fourth witness, Healer Smethwyke."

Harry looked over at the man who came out and sat down. It was the Healer he had met a few days ago, who had been so obsessed by the fire.

Smethwyk cleared his throat anxiously and ruffled the papers he was carrying. "Harry Potter's behaviour," he started, "fits in with a person suffering from repression and false memories. As a result of a traumatic event, most probably the spell Headmaster Dumbledore was talking about, he has constructed an entirely new set of memories along with a new personality to erase other traumatic events from his past.

"For instance, Harry believes that his parents are dead because it is easier not to remember anything traumatic that happened between them. In his new life that he has constructed, his parents died when he was one, so they have, in effect, been erased from his life. He believes that he has always attended Hogwarts, removing any unpleasant memories of being a Deatheater. His belief that he went out with Cho Chang for a short while can also be explained by this theory. Surely it is more preferable for him to think that he went out with Cho instead of remembering the time when he killed her."

"That's not true!" Harry shouted, angrily. He had thought Dumbledore was going to prove to everyone that he wasn't a Deatheater, but instead he had come up with some crazy theory about repression. "My memories are real!"

Smethywk ignored him and went on. "Therefore he cannot be held responsible for these crimes if he doesn't remember doing them."

Fudge looked over at Dumbledore. "What are you trying to say Albus?" he asked.

"You may leave," Dumbledore said aside to Smethwyk and then he said, "I believe that Harry should be put into St. Mungo's, not sentenced to Azkaban."

"I'm too young for Azkaban," Harry said to no-one in particular, horrified that they were even considering it.

The four members turned to each other and started muttering among themselves. After about five minutes they turned back to Harry.

Dumbledore spoke. "In light of Harry Potter's disturbed behaviour and Healer Smethwyk's belief that he cannot be held responsible for his crimes if he does not remember them; Harry shall be sentenced to St. Mungo's until he is cured and at that point he will be sentenced to a lifetime in Azkaban. All in favour?"

About three-quarters of the hands in the courtroom went up.

"All against?"

The other quarter put their hands up.

"The trial of Harry Potter is finished," continued Dumbledore, "and his sentence has been given."

Two Aurors who had been standing behind Harry came up and untied the chains and started to lead him away.

"What the - wait a second," Harry started to say. He couldn't believe what had just happened. They couldn't put the Boy-Who-Lived in Azkaban! How was he meant to fight Voldemort from in there? He hadn't done anything wrong!

"Wait - Dumbledore!" he yelled, trying to fight the Aurors. "Dumbledore you can't do this!_ I'm the one! _I'm the one from the prophecy! How am I-"

His words were cut off as Aurors dragged him away and slammed the door, shutting him off from the courtroom. The last thing he saw was Dumbledore stand up suddenly, a shocked expression on his face.

......

Okay, answers to questions are first.

Why hasn't Harry figured out that he's in an alternate universe?

Well … if someone starts acting weird you don't immediately assume 'OMG they're from an alternate universe!', you think instead that the person's gone a bit insane, you think of every other possible explanation. I think this is true even in the Wizarding World. Surely it's easier for Dumbledore and the others to believe that Harry is insane instead of thinking he's from an alternate universe. And it's probably easier for Harry to think everyone else has gone insane and that Sirius and his parents are just hallucinations.

Do the Potters have any other kids in this world?

Well, no. I know it's pretty likely that they would have more kids but I just didn't want to write any in. I would probably end up producing a Gary or Mary Sue, with the kids being identical to either James or Lily, and anyway, I'm sure no-one would care about them and would probably forget their names.

Do the people in Harry's world even know he's gone?

I've got as much an idea as the rest of you. I haven't even written that far, I hadn't really considered it.

I thought you said earlier that Harry got taken by Voldemort in 81 and was raised as his heir.

Hmm, no, I didn't say that. I think you've probably just got that idea because practically every other fic like this uses that idea. Mine's slightly different ... there are some clues in this chapter, you'll find out more next chapter.

Is Peter evil or good?

Um, well I should have some secrets so I won't answer this yet. Clues are in this chapter.

What will Harry make of a Peter without a metal hand and all ten fingers?

What? What what what? Er - I never even considered that. Huh. Shows how much attention I pay to canon.

What initiated Harry's dimension-crossing?

I hadn't considered that either. I don't think I'm going to bother, it'll just end up as some stupid explanation like 'there are 8 mystical universes and Harry can travel between all of them' or 'Harry made a wish on a star'. Yeah, I'm not going to bother.

Is the Harry that threatened Ron the evil Harry? Are they sharing a body, two spirits?

Hey, that's a pretty cool idea ... but no, they aren't. Harry was just going a bit crazy, as normal.

Where's Hermione? (Did anyone actually ask this? I'll answer it anyway)

Ah hah! In the next chapter!

Was the prophecy given in this AU? Was Neville the one Voldemort chose? Or did Voldemort not mark anyone yet. Does Voldie know the prophecy? Does he even know there was a prophecy?

Ah, yes, everything in this AU hinges on the prophesy. If anyone can figure out what happened to the prophesy there'll understand most thing in this story.

And one more thing ... no slash! There is no slash in this story, it was an alternate scene. laughs I don't know if I needed to point that out, I'm not trying to insult anyone's intelligence or anything, just thought I'd make sure everyone knew.

......

And now, I have a special treat for everyone, a sort-of apology for making everyone wait this long. I have included in this chapter ... LINKS TO ALMOST EVERY AU STORY ON THIS SITE! Yay! Now, while you're all waiting for chapter 4 you'll have loads of stuff to read! Okay, all of the stories listed below are like mine, Harry or someone else goes into an alternate universe where his parents are (very likely) alive. All of them are like that. So even if the summary doesn't seem like an AU story, it is. If I've missed any out, just point me to them in a review or e-mail me (unzumhotmail.com).

Since ff.net deletes any internet addresses I try to put in, you'll have to find the stories by author name or title. All of them are ff.net unless it says otherwise. To go onto an author's page quickly just put this symbol: after the ff.net addres and write the author's name after it.

Enjoy!

......

**Avlyn** Be Careful of What You Wish For AU fic, Harry makes a wish to see his parents. What happens when it comes true? R/R please

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**Ides of March** Erised Voldemort is dead. Harry is drawn into his dreams as a way to retreat from reality - and it turns out, quite literally. In his alternate universe, his parents are alive, voldemort is alive, and Harry Potter is evil.

**Ripples** Silent Tears When Harry is abused he accidently transports himself to another world where his parents live! Rated for violence and mild language.

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**Angel Lorelai** All a Dream Harry wakes up on a July 31st to find his life has change. There's no Hogwarts and no Voldemort, now Harry and Ron have to pair up with Malfoy to fix everything and get their normal life back..no matter how bad they are

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**Jessica C Potter** Silent Torment Sequel to Silent Tears CH5 It's a year after her death. A mysterious woman, an alternate universe, and a Hogwarts ruled by Voldemort. What's Ron doing there? And how is Harry supposed to get back home alive? Be careful what you wish for, Harry...R/R!

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**kyc639** Harry Potter and the Decisions of Fate COMPLETE with Alternate Ending! Sixth year fic. Harry wakes up one morning in Slytherin. Harry must figure out what caused him to be in Slytherin, what's changed in his world, and how to get things back the way they should be. It's also H&Hr.

**cAtaStrOphIc jOsh** If Only Life Were Like This What happens when everything you wish for comes true? What would you do if you found out you couldn't keep it? Harry finds himself in a living dream, and now he doesn't want to wake up.

This is a Cool AU. Read. Basically Harry is taken into an AU where his parents are still alive, pre-OotP. I can't remember much more. storyid=553369

**Padfoot98056** What it Might Have Been Harry, Ron, and Hermione find themselves in an alternate universe with no way to get back. AU, OOTP spoilers

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**InkBlotch** A Wrinkle In Time When a stranger makes Harry an offer he can't resist, he is sent to an alternate universe, where his parents are still alive, and evil doesn't exist. But Harry learns that there is always evil, and it can be found in the least expected places.

**Damon Rhodes** Deletion's Creations Harry is transported into an alternate timeline in which Voldemort never turned existed. Harry's parents are alive, but not who you think... [Almost-Severitus Challenge]

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**SilverYoukai** A Thousand Mirrors There is a room that hold a thousand mirrors, each reflecting a different reality. When Harry lives a year in each, what will be different? Will Harry stay sane long enough to get home? Once he gets home, will he even be Harry anymore? SLASH

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**SailorChibi** Harry Potter and the Wish of Deception Harry wakes up in a world where his parents and Sirius are alive and he's told that all the stuff that happened in the book was just a dream that occured while he was in a coma. In the end, what will Harry choose? A perfect fantasy or harsh reality? HG

Veil of possibilities Basically loads of fics where Sirius falls through the veil in the Department of Mysteries and finds himself in an alternate universe. This is at nuttersinc . de . vu then /veil then /archive.htm

**Doneril** Three O'Clock in the Morning After the occurances at the end of OotP, Sirius finds himself on the pavement of a Muggle city. Slowly he begins to learn of a life beyond the Veil, but, when old alliances crumble and he must depend upon his enemies, Sirius begins to long for home.

**Sabina M. Paveling** While you were sleeping James and Lily want Harry back, they think he is in a deep "dream", from which he can't come back. Harry wants his parents, he thinks they are dead.... but someone has been hiding him a secret... and Voldemort is willing to reveal it. AU? Possibly...

**LRGator** Mirror, Mirror Based on an old Star Trek episode, Harry is sent to an alternate universe after being struck by lightning. A universe where his parents are alive, but not exactly good. PG13 to be safe...actionadventure

**Queenbeth2** What if you never left? Harry has graduated and is dating Hermione. They plan to move in together. Harry goes to sleep and wakes up in an alturnate universe where the muraders were still friends and he still has his parents. He get's the chance to change the past but will he tak

**Star C. Waters** Dreams of Enchantment: Cursing realities Harry wakes up one morning to discover he's not actually a wizard, his parents are still alive, and Malfoy is his... BOYFRIEND! Is this a bad dream, and if so, can he wake up? (Summary By Mister Bear)

**Elkulib** The Best of All Possible Worlds AU, OoTP spoilers. Harry is drawn into an alternate world where Voldemort never existed, and his other self is an ordinary boy. (Full summary inside).

**Fantome** A Malignant World Alternate Universe: What would the world be like if Harry Potter had never been "the boy who lived?" Harry is transported to a world in which Death Eaters control a tortured, impoverished wizard society. How will he get home and who will believe him?

**LittleGreenPerson** Meeting Big Brother Tom's had a hard life. Somewhat. His mum's insane because her first-born, Harry, died. And there's that annoying Granger. But when he lands in an alternate universe where Harry is alive, life just gets more complicated.

**Juniper Kiayla** Deceptive Rewards Voldy's dead and Harry Ron and Hermione are alone after killing him. With Dumbledore's last gift to them they travel to a new dimension where Voldy and Harry died in 1981, among other things. Now they must adjust to peace, Hogwarts, school, and the new w

**Megz2** On the Other Side The final battle has arrived, and just when the killing curse is shot, something unexpected happens and Harry finds himself in a different universe! Where Hogwarts never exsisted... Pre-Ootp

**Adam Johnson **Never let go When harry comes home from hogwarts, everything goes wrong. His uncle hates him, his aunt and cousin are moving away and worst of all he's depressed. Find out what happens when you take a drunk vernon and a scared harry. H/Hr G/D R/OC

**CelestialDrgn** A Dream Is A Wish Your Heart Makes AU. Harry is the savior of the wizarding world. But, what if that world doesn't exist? Harry awakes from a coma and realizes that the world he knew was imaginary. How does he cope? HD slash.


	5. St Mungo's

* * *

Disclaimer 

I don't own Harry Potter or any of the characters and I'm not making any money from this.

Author Notes

Okay, I know I don't really have any excuse for taking this long, it's pretty much my fault. I wasn't waiting for more reviews or sulking because someone flamed or anything, I'm just really sorry it took me this long.

Also, this isn't the full chapter. I still have some bits I want to change and there's an extra scene that I wanted to put in but I couldn't find anywhere to put it.

St. Mungo's

"Tree," said the Healer.

Harry stared up at the ceiling, his legs resting on the table and answered in a bored voice, "Sirius."

"Owl," she said, glancing at her clipboard.

"Sirius."

"Quidditch." The Healer gave what seemed like an encouraging smile at Harry this time.

He hesitated slightly before answering this time. "...Grim."

"School."

"Padfoot..."

"London."

"Black." And Grimmauld Place, he thought involuntarily. Sirius hated that place, but Dumbledore forced him to stay...

"_People don't like being locked up! You did the same to me all last summer!"_

"Wall," said the Healer.

"Sirius, Sirius, _Sirius!_" Harry finally shouted, bringing his legs off the table with a clunk. "Look! I don't want to do this word association thing anymore, I've got other things on my mind."

"Like Sirius, for example?"

"Yes!"

"He must be a pretty important person in your life," said the Healer.

"...I don't want to talk about Sirius."

There was a pause, and Harry sensed the Healer staring at him

"It's okay to cry," she said carefully.

"I'm not going to cry," Harry yelled, suddenly angry "_I don't cry! _I'm not like Cho!"

The Healer wrote something down on the clipboard and Harry looked away and stared at the walls.

* * *

Sirius sat at his desk and tapped his quill impatiently on the desk. Hundreds of pictures of Harry Potter stared down at him; pictures of Harry when he was just starting at Hogwarts; blurry pictures of a child Deatheater, mostly just of his cloak as it whipped round the corner; and several pictures of him holding up an ID, looking at the camera as though unsure why he was there.

Sirius scooted his chair back until he could see into the next cubicle and said, "Williamson, do you have the statement back from the Weasley's yet?"

A brown-haired man with a ponytail looked around. "The statement?" he said blankly, before remembering. "Oh yeah, Mr Weasley gave one after I cornered him in the Atrium but the rest of the family hasn't. I think they're concerned you'll mention their names; they don't want the public to know. Maybe you should go talk to them, reassure them or something."

Sirius sighed before standing up and kicking his chair back under the desk. "I may as well go talk to them now," he said. "I've got nothing else to do; I finished those Azkaban reports on Bellatrix hours ago."

But before he took even one step, a paper aeroplane flew out of the lift and jabbed him in the eye.

He swore and tore it out of the air, one eye screwed shut as he read it.

"Tell Kingsley I've just gone to Lily and James', will you?" he asked Williamson when he finished reading.

"Sure," said Williamson absently, already busy on some other report.

* * *

Sirius stepped out of the fireplace and looked at the five people already seated around the kitchen table.

"I came as fast as I could," he said. "What's the matter with him then?"

Dumbledore motioned for Sirius to sit down and said, "I have the transcript from a recent session with Harry and one of the Healers. In earlier sessions he had been surly and uncommunicative but when the Healer tried word association it revealed something new."

Dumbledore handed over the piece of parchment and Sirius glanced through it quickly.

"But it's all about me," he started incredulously and looked at the other four as though expecting them to tell him it was all a big joke. But all James, Lily, Remus and Peter did was stare at him grimly. "But-but-" he started to say again.

He glared down at the parchment and read it through again. He finally looked up.

"Why does he keep saying my name to all those different words? Look, 'Sirius', 'Sirius', 'Black', 'Padfoot' ... and even 'Grim' is on there!"

Peter spoke up; a serious and careful look on his face. "Albus thinks that Harry might have become obsessed with you, because ... because you were the first person he saw after he escaped from Voldemort."

"He's also seen you the most," put in Lily.

"Me?" said Sirius in despair. "Why me? What did I ever do?"

"It's not anything you've done," James said, trying to reassure Sirius, a worried look on his face. "It could have happened to anyone. If Harry had seen Peter or Remus or even some stranger first, he probably would have latched onto them instead."

"I shouldn't have even gone to the trial then," Sirius said, downcast. "It probably made things even worse."

"I didn't think the situation was that serious then, or I would've stopped you," said Dumbledore. "But I would advise you, Sirius, not to visit him in St Mungo's. In fact, you should stay away from him until we can find out more about this."

* * *

Harry stared at the two patients sitting across from him, both wearing the same blue St Mungo's uniform.

The younger man was twitching terribly as he tried to eat his lunch. Bits of food kept falling off his shaking fork. The older man with greying hair kept glancing around nervously and jumping every time there was a loud noise.

Harry realised his mouth was hanging open and quickly shut it.

The greying man suddenly reached over with his fork and grabbed a slice of Harry's quiche, set it down on his plate and started to eat it.

"Hey!" Harry said, indignantly. "That's my food!"

The greying man just looked at him and said, "I'm not stupid enough to eat from my own plate, that food is poisoned. You're trying to poison me!"

Harry could hardly think of a response to this and just stared at him, utterly confused.

"D-d-don't take any n-n-n-notice of him," the other man spoke up, stuttering, his hand shaking so much that his fork fell onto the table. "He's m-m-mad." He looked down at his plate again, still for a second.

"BAM!" he suddenly shouted, and slammed his hand down on the table, making Harry and the plates jump.

The greying man finally finished Harry's quiche and looked up, as though searching for someone else to steal food from. His eyes stopped on a small group of perfectly innocent patients on the other side of the room.

"Oi! Stop trying to filch my stuff!" he shouted, getting up and running over.

Harry stared after the man before turning back to his meal and picking morosely at his food with his fork.

* * *

"Okay, Harry," said Smethwyk. "Now, you've just killed the Basilisk and destroyed the teenage form of You-Know-Who. What happened next?"

"Um-well, that was when Ginny woke up and started crying. She was crying because ... well, um, because she upset of course. She'd almost been killed. I helped her up and we went back to Ron. Then Fawkes took us out of the Chamber ... which I'm still not going to tell you where it was-"

"Perfectly understandable Harry."

"And-and then we took Ginny back to Mr and Mrs Weasley. Er-and Dumbledore gave me and Ron each a 'Special Award for Services to the School' or something like that. Vol-sorry-You-Know-Who has one as well, because everyone thought it was _him_ who had sealed the Chamber of Secrets."

"That is a _fascinating_ story, Harry," said Smethwyk, smiling pleasantly.

"Er-it did actually happen, you know," said Harry, slightly unsure.

"Of course it did," Smethywk said, putting the piece of parchment with the previous conversation on it into a file marked 'Harry Potter's fantasy world'. Harry glared at it.

Smethywk looked up and folded his hands. "Now Harry. I thought we'd try something new today. I'd like you to write a letter. It can be to anyone; a friend, God, Sirius ... anyone. But I'd like you to write to your parents. You don't have to send it, just write down your feelings."

He handed Harry a sheet of parchment.

_

* * *

_

_Dear Mum and Dad,_

_I don't even know why I'm writing this. I wouldn't even bother if Smethwyk hadn't put me up to this. It's so stupid, I know that you're both dead. And unless owls can deliver letters to dead people, what's the point?_

_So since I can't write to my real mum and dad I've decided to write to you two. You know who you are, the two Deatheaters who took Polyjuice potion or something to try and pretend to be my parents. Well, ha ha. Really funny. It's not enough that I'm an orphan and I've had Voldemort after me ever since I was born, no, you've got to mess me up even more._

_I'm not going to fall for it. Whoever you are you're going to pay. I'm going to learn _Avada Kedavra_ and when I do you two will be the ones I'll test it on. Or maybe I'll find myself a Dementor and let it kiss the two of you, because even the killing curse is too good for you._

_What you did was sick._

_Harry_

Lily stared at James in disbelief. She felt her throat become tight with emotion. She sat down on the sofa and clenched her fists.

"Lily?" James said softly, "you shouldn't pay any attention to that letter. I don't even know why they sent it; they shouldn't be allowed to do that. Look, next time I visit St. Mungo's I'll-"

"_I hate him_."

"Harry?" James said automatically, cut off from his rant.

"Voldemort," said Lily in clenched teeth. "He did this. He did it to _our son_," she said, the words almost too thick with tears to speak. "He couldn't be content with having Harry as a Deatheater, he had to – he had to do this to-to-"

She clenched her fists even tighter this time but James reached over and pulled her into a hug and she broke down.

* * *

Dumbledore carefully folded up the letter that Lily and James had sent him and leaned back, twiddling a quill thoughtfully as he went over a particular sentence from Harry's letter in his head.

"..._I've had Voldemort after me ever since I was born..."_

* * *

Harry leaned carefully against the wall next to the door separating the long-term ward from the rest of St. Mungo's, pretending to be fiddling with a Rubix cube that he found inside the rec. room.

A Healer walked past and gave Harry an annoyed look, who quickly became engrossed in the Rubix cube. Sighing slightly, the Healer turning to the door and whispered a spell before the doors swung open. Harry watched carefully as the Healer walked out and suddenly moved his right foot, catching the door before it closed.

The Healer was still walking down the corridor, unaware that anything had happened. Harry paused warily and quickly walked out when it became clear that there was no one around.

He half-walked and half-ran down the corridors, his nerves constantly on edge. When his ears caught the sudden snatch of conversation, he slammed into the wall quicker than he'd had to think. He looked around for an escape, his heart thudding in his chest. Seeing a door marked _'Eye Damage'_ he quickly darted in and shut the door.

He slid down onto the ground so that he was invisible to anyone in the corridor and waited until the footsteps and voices had faded.

He stood up slowly, trying not to make a sound and turned around, fully intending to get out of here and make another escape attempt before his eyes were caught by a bushy head of hair.

Harry gasped and quickly moved over to the bed.

"Hermione?" he said, hardly daring to believe it.

Hermione turned her head towards him.

"What happened, Hermione?" Harry asked and gently touched the bandage that was covering her eyes.

"Who's there?" said Hermione, her voice groggy with sleep.

"It's me Harry, how did you get like this?"

"Urgh ... I-I did a spell wrong..." Hermione murmured, and buried herself deeper into the bed. Harry suspected she wasn't fully awake. "I was trying to – change my eye colour or something ... I can't really remember. It went wrong though..."

"How long have you been here?" Harry asked. _Maybe she doesn't know about the Ministry being after me, _he thought eagerly. _Hermione's sensible, she'll believe me._

"Um – only overnight," Hermione said sleepily, and rubbed absently at the bandages around her eyes. "...Who is it?" she said again.

"Harry," said Harry patiently. "Look, Hermione, could you-"

But anything he had been about to say was cut off suddenly by a loud bang as the door flew off its hinges. Hermione screamed and someone started yelling, "PUT YOUR HANDS UP! STEP AWAY FROM THE GIRL!"

Harry twisted around but he couldn't see anything through the plaster dust in the air. He tried to stand up but a curse suddenly threw him to the other side off the room where he hit the wall with a sickening crack. His head spun but all he could do was lie in a heap and moan in pain.

Cords wrapped themselves tightly around him and he could hear Hermione asking in a panicked voice what was going on.

"What's happening – Who was that – What are you-"

"Just stay calm," said another voice. "That was Harry Potter but-"

There was something halfway between a gasp and a scream and Hermione's voice saying, "Oh God," before the swimming in Harry's head turned to blackness.

* * *

Harry glared at the dark wall in front of him and let out a yell of anger before kicking it. He clenched his fists and pummelled the cushioned floor.

"Bastards!" he screamed.

He'd been locked in here for two days now. When he came to after the Aurors had stunned him, he had been locked inside this room. He'd yelled but no one had answered. There were no windows, no door, no furniture and the walls had been charmed with some sort of cushioning spell.

He slid down onto the floor, which was surprisingly comfortable and curled up, clenching his fists. Where was everyone? Where were all the people that were supposed to help him? Dumbledore, Remus, Hermione, Ron, Luna...

Luna...

"Loopy, loony Luna," said Harry absently, rolling on his back and staring at the ceiling. She believed everything that was written in the Quibbler ... maybe she'd believe him.

There was a strange sound from the right wall, like stones shifting. Harry turned his head over and watched as a door materialised in the wall. He sat up quickly and an imposing figure swept in.

"Come on Harry," said Dumbledore. "We're taking you out of here."

* * *

Okay, that's all for now. Sorry it's so short and unbetaed. Once I get a reply from my beta-reader I'll probably post up another version.

Will Harry have a girlfriend or a boyfriend?

Um, probably neither. I know I had that alternate scene in chapter 2 but that was more me thinking that Draco of this universe was gay, not Harry.

I don't think they'll be any romance in this story. Everyone reading this probably has such different tastes that I don't really want to upset anyone by doing a specific ship.

Why didn't anyone use veritaserum (or legilimancy) on Harry in the trial?

It seems obvious to use those things but if you read over all the trials that have been in the HP books you'll notice that they don't use anything like that. I think there must be some law against it, something about respecting the prisoner's rights.

Is Snape still a spy?

I don't really want to give too much of this away but it either has to be Snape or someone else who gave Dumbledore information about what happened in Voldemort's hideout in chapter 2.

What's with the alternate scene in chapter 2?

The alternate scene isn't part of the storyline, I just really felt like writing in some H/D but I left it as an AU so that people who don't like slash can avoid it.

Where is Draco now?

Ah, Draco. I want to write more of him but I don't think he'll turn up in the next chapter. I'll definitely put him in somewhere else though. He's probably doing what every other character in this AU is doing; wondering if Harry's mad.

Are we going to see any other characters? Like maybe Tonks?

Probably not Tonks. I don't think I could write her, it was difficult enough with Shacklebolt and I have a feeling Tonks would end being this annoying extra perky Mary-Sue if I tried to put her in.

You know, I think I'm running out of other characters to put in this fic, there's not many people left. I'll probably include Luna and Neville at some point though.

Did the other Harry Potter die in the fire?

Um ... er ... oh, I can't say! I'm sorry.

Will this story be a happy ending and will Harry stay in the AU or be sent home?

I still haven't figured it out myself. I do get annoyed with stories that have Harry leave a paradise AU for some stupid reason like 'duty' though.

Why did Harry turn bad in the Alternative world?

I've got an explanation for this, and it's a bit different from most other AU story ones. I'll have to find some way for someone to explain it to Harry.

How come Harry cannot perform a full body bind that lasts any more than a couple of seconds?

I think it's mainly 'cos Harry was using someone else's wand. Spells are (I think, is there any canon to back this up?) more difficult to perform if you aren't using your own wand, and it was probably made worse because Harry was using a wand that belonged to someone he hates.

Won't Harry recognize that this Sirius isn't his Sirius?

He's probably to messed up to notice anything like that.


	6. Grim Places

Disclaimer

I don't own Harry Potter or any of the characters and I'm not making any money from this.

Author's Note

Okay, sorry this is late & a bit of a short chapter but I think it's quite good. I enjoyed writing this chapter. The last chapter was a bit rushed and not betaed so I don't really think it was that good but I'm pleased with this one.

Anyway, I think I shall dedicate this chapter to ... Anilia Hawkeye! Yay! Even if my chapters take years she still betaes them really quickly. So thanks!

Grim Places

Harry tried vainly to see something through the blinding charm placed on his eyes. His hands were tied behind his back and Dumbledore's strong hold on his arm kept him from running.

"Step," he heard Dumbledore say.

Harry carefully walked over it. He heard the sound of a door being opened and was pushed forward. Next second the background noise of the street had stopped and his blinding charm was removed.

Grimmauld Place.

Harry opened his mouth as if to speak but shut it quickly and looked down at the floor. Of course it was the most likely place Dumbledore would take him but all of a sudden he didn't want to be here … this was Sirius' house … and everything in it reminded Harry of him.

"You'll be staying here for the foreseeable future," Dumbledore was saying. "You are allowed anywhere in this house but never outside. No weapons or wands will be tolerated and neither will any violence or threats. If you fail to comply there are only too many wizards or witches who will be able to deal with you.

"Now, your room is upstairs, just follow me."

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Harry woke up the next morning in one of the many grotty rooms of Grimmauld Place. The sun was streaming in and he smiled, basking in the warmth.

For a moment it felt like he was back in the summer before 5th year, when he had shared a room with Ron.

Harry sighed and sat up, his happiness draining away as he remembered the current situation. He changed quickly and was about to leave before he heard a slight sound. He turned and looked quickly around.

His eyes alighted on a painting of a man surrounded by snakes. The man looked quite bored, his eyes were half-closed and he occasionally kicked a snake away when it crawled too close. But it wasn't the man that had caught Harry's interest.

Harry crept a little closer and stared at the snakes, who were bickering amongst themselves and hissing angrily whenever the man kicked one of them.

"_Hello?_" Harry said hesitantly.

The snakes instantly stopped arguing and the man in the painting sat up suddenly.

"You're a parselmouth?" the man said excitedly and bowed, flattening himself on the ground.

"_A parselmouth_…" said one of the snakes. "_Are you a prisoner of the people here?_"

"I don't think so," said Harry awkwardly. "I thought we were on the same side but..."

"_This place is full of lightsiders,"_ said a red snake. "_They would never allow a parselmouth join them, you must be their prisoner._"

"Are you a messenger from the Dark Lord?" said the man, standing up. "Are you here to free me?"

"I'm not with Voldemort," Harry said, staring at the man. "But … do I know you? You look like someone I used to know."

"I'm Regulus Black, or rather, his portrait," answered the man.

"Sirius wouldn't keep a picture of you in his house," Harry said, frowning.

"Oh, it's not like he has a choice," Regulus said, grinning. "Unbreakable sticking charm, just like mum downstairs…" his expression turned calculating suddenly and he asked, "So, whose side are you on? The Dark Lord's or Dumbledore's?"

"Right this moment? My own…" said Harry absently. "Listen, I'd better be getting down to breakfast."

"Go ahead," said Regulus and as Harry walked out he saw the man disappear from his portrait.

Harry frowned as he walked down the stairs. Why was there a portrait of Regulus Black in the Order of the Phoenix Headquarters? Hadn't Regulus been a Deatheater? Wouldn't it be dangerous to keep him here?

He was still thinking about it when he opened the door to the kitchen. Seated around the big wooden table were Lily and James Potter.

Harry turned around quicker than he thought possible and ran for the door. But his legs suddenly snapped together and he fell, banging his head heavily on the door. His immediate action was to try to hold his head and stop the pain but his arms wouldn't move. He had been hit with a full body bind.

The woman with red hair walked up and kneeled beside him, gently turning him over. Harry shut his eyes tightly, the only part of his body that he could move.

"Harry?" said a woman's voice. "You don't need to be scared."

"Why did you try to run?" said a man's voice and Harry recognized it from every time he went near a Dementor. He squeezed his eyes tighter and wished he could block his ears too.

"We know you don't remember us," said the woman. "But that's okay … it's a chance for a new beginning, a new start…"

Harry shut his eyes tighter.

"Harry, we're your parents," she said, her voice thick with tears. "Can't you trust us?"

_They're not my parents, they're not…_

The man's voice said quieter, "Lily, maybe you should just leave it."

There was a pause and a man's voice said, "Finite Incantatem!"

Harry's limbs relaxed and he opened his eyes, staring at the two adults above him. He tried to calm his breathing down.

"Harry?" said the man carefully. "Why don't you have some breakfast?"

The woman grabbed Harry's arm and helped to pull him up. Harry grabbed a chair and sat down quickly, his legs felt like they wouldn't hold him up.

"Do you – do you want some bacon and eggs?" the woman asked hesitantly, pushing a plate towards him.

Before Harry could even think of asking, he suddenly saw a familiar surly looking house elf.

There was a second, during which Harry seemed to hear his heart beat in his chest before he suddenly flung his chair back and lunged at Kreacher.

For a minute, the woman and woman seemed not to react before the man ran over and pulled Harry, kicking and screaming, off Kreacher. The woman quickly knelt over the battered house elf, muttering some healing spells.

"What the hell are you doing!" the man yelled at Harry, who was still fighting him.

Harry pushed away from the man that looked like his dad and ran up the stairs, anger pumping through his veins.

He could hear the man and woman shouting after him to stop, others had heard now and there was more yelling. He ran into his room and slammed the door.

He could hear pounding of footsteps as someone ran up the stairs, panicking, Harry looked around desperately for something to lock the door. His eyes stopped on the heavy wardrobe standing beside the door and in a second Harry had pushed it over, blocking the door.

"Hey! Open this door!" someone yelled and started banging on the door.

"_It's the prisoner,_" someone hissed from the other side of the room and Harry spun around.

"_Do you want to escape?_" asked one of the snakes.

Harry nodded, glancing over at the door, which seemed near to breaking off its hinges.

The man, Regulus Black, seemed rather panicked by everything that was going on.

"What're the snakes saying to you?" he demanded, looking over

"_Go through,"_ said the snakes and moments later the portrait swung open, revealing a dark passageway.

"Wait! Don't you even think about leaving here!" Regulus shouted, trying in vain to stop Harry.

But without any hesitation, Harry crawled through the portrait hole, ignoring Regulus.

The portrait hole shut behind him with a clunk and Harry found himself in total blackness. He stood up hesitantly and heard the door in his room finally give way. He moved quickly then, scared that one of the Order members might find their way into the passage.

After a few minutes the passage came to a point where it branched off in two directions. Harry stood there for a while, before taking the left one.

The passageway seemed to be inside the thick walls of Grimmauld Place, as Harry could hear snatches of conversation from rooms next to him. Specks of light were filtering in from tiny holes in the stonework, giving Harry just enough light to see.

He wandered the passages for well over an hour, before he found another portrait that seemed to lead back in the house.

Harry pressed his ear against the wall and tried to listen for any sound coming from in the room. Satisfied that no-one was in there he pushed the portrait and found himself face to face with Severus Snape and Albus Dumbledore.

He had just enough time for a guilty smile and an "Er-" before he was knocked onto the floor by a stunning curse.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Harry tapped the desk in annoyance and kicked it, jangling the chains that tied his feet to the desk. He looked into the mirror in front of him and stared at Tonks, who was sitting on the bed behind him, her wand out in case Harry tried to escape again.

She caught him staring at her and grinned, her features slowly changing into a familiar Chinese girl with long black hair. Harry clenched his fists and stared down, ignoring Tonks' laughter as he tried not to think about Cho and the trial.

The door opened suddenly with a bang, making Harry jump. Snape strode in, Dumbledore following close behind. They appeared to be arguing.

"Albus, it isn't safe to keep Potter here, not with all these snake artefacts around."

"It's the safest place for him, we just simply have to remove anything to do with snakes."

"And what about this portrait?" Snape demanded, pointing to the one of Regulus Black.

Regulus sat up a bit, suddenly aware and started to say, "You better not be thinking-"

"Severus, you know perfectly well it's impossible to remove that-"

"Then we'll have to destroy it!" Snape yelled, levelling his wand at the painting. The snakes curled up in fear, calling out to Harry to help them.

"Don't hurt them!" he yelled.

The three adults in the room suddenly froze and their eyes swivelled over to Harry, staring at him.

"_Are we safe?"_ a snake hissed and Harry's eyes darted over to it quickly, unwilling to take his eyes off the Order members in the room. He wanted to say something to try and reassure the snakes but something in everyone else's faces stopped him.

Snape was staring at Harry, breathing harshly, something approaching fear in his eyes.

Tonks spoke up finally. "Dumbledore, what's going on?"

Dumbledore hesitated a little, looking anywhere except Harry. "We have just discovered that Mr Potter is a parselmouth," he said bluntly.

Tonks gasped and immediately whipped out her wand to point at Harry, jumping off the bed.

"You could've told me that before you told me to guard him!" she yelled.

Harry froze, staring around warily at everyone, feeling that one wrong move would get him cursed.

"Dumbledore," he started carefully, trying to explain. "I'm not him, you know. I can speak to snakes like he can and I have-have some of his characteristics and – but I'm not Voldemort."

"You have some of his characteristics?" Dumbledore said sharply.

"I-I have part of his personality and some of his abilities but-but that's only 'cos the spell went wrong."

Dumbledore looked alarmed for a second but quickly turned away and started speaking to Tonks and Snape.

"Tonks, you will move Mr Potter to another room, preferable absent of anything snake-like. And Severus, no-one will be destroying Regulus' portrait, so please put your wand down."

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Lily turned the page of her book absently, not really reading it, but thinking about her brief encounter with Harry at breakfast. He hadn't even wanted to talk to them. Ever since Harry had been found, her and James hadn't been able to talk to him, or even be in his presence. There was so much she wanted to ask him, how much he remembered of his parents, why he had turned, whether he really had lost his memory…

She looked up suddenly, just becoming aware of the noise outside. People were yelling, there were bangings and small explosions … and an awful lot of hissing.

She stood up and pushed open the door into the hallway. For some reason, everyone seemed to be busy destroying Grimmauld Place; a statue of Isador Belling, the first recorded parselmouth, crashed by her feet and she jumped backwards quickly.

"What's going on?" she demanded of the nearest person.

"We have to get rid of anything to do with snakes," said Hestia Jones, a witch in the Order of the Phoenix that Lily was quite good friends with. "Or else he-"

Hestia finally glanced up from the carving of a snake she was trying to destroy and seemed to realise who she was talking to.

"Oh, Lily … er – sorry I'm needed upstairs," she said quickly and ran away before Lily could call her back.

Frowning, Lily walked down the corridor and pushed open the door to the kitchen, looking for someone else to ask.

"James!" she started in relief. "What's going on? Why's everyone destroying everything?"

James looked up, slightly confused. "What?"

"People are destroying things outside, didn't you notice?" Lily demanded, in annoyance.

James expression stayed blank for a second before clearly in sudden understanding. "Oh! Oh right. Peter said something about a spring clean, said it didn't reflect well on the Order of the Phoenix having loads of dark items in its headquarters."

Lily frowned. "That doesn't make much sense, why now? We've had all those dark items for ages."

Before James could answer the door opened and Albus Dumbledore walked in.

"Albus! Finally someone we can get a straight answer from," Lily said, smiling. "Why's everyone decided now would be a nice time to vandalise the Headquarters?"

Dumbledore didn't smile back. "Sit down, Lily, James," he said gravely. "We have discovered some new information about Harry."

James sat down quickly with a bump. "What? What's happened this time?"

"I don't think I can take anymore surprises," said Lily in a distressed voice.

Dumbledore sighed and studied his hands for a second, before saying, "Harry is a parselmouth. He escaped his room earlier by opening a passage in a portrait containing snakes. No one else has been able to open it."

"But that's not-that's-" James stuttered and laughed a little nervously. "Harry's not a parselmouth, don't be stupid."

"I'm sorry," said Dumbledore. "I should've realised."

"No, it's not your fault," said Lily, faintly. "No one realised."

"He's _not_ a parselmouth!" James yelled, angry at Lily's quick acceptance. "I don't believe it, Harry can't be … parselmouths are … they're-they're not even human, they're dark creatures …Harry's not - he's not that."

"Regulus told us," Dumbledore said gently. "He said Harry spoke to the snakes in his portrait in parseltongue … that's how he escaped."

"Do you have any proof?" James demanded in an aggressive tone.

"James…" Lily said, laying a reassuring hand on James' arm. "James, we can't do anything right now. Let's just trust Albus' word."

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Harry lay face down on the bed, his hands clenched over his ears, trying desperately to block out the sounds from downstairs. Every hiss that may have seemed unintelligible to everyone else, was a plea for help or mercy to Harry.

Harry curled and uncurled reflexively on the bed, unable to bear the sound as the Order members destroyed the snake artefacts. Finally he sat up straight and yelled at Tonks;

"How can you just sit there! Don't you have even a shred of humanity? If-if you could hear-"

Tonks smirked. "Oh, you're one to talk," she said. "I wasn't aware parselmouths were even classed as human."

Harry flung himself back onto the bed and screamed in his pillow. He was about to punch the bed when he was interrupted by a loud bang and a scream from downstairs.

Tonks jumped up and hesitated, torn between the door and Harry, who she was supposed to be guarding. Anguished sobbing from below them decided her next move.

"Don't you dare move!" she warned Harry, "Or I might forget that Dumbledore told me to leave that snake portrait alone."

She ran out and slammed the door shut. Moments later a blue shield appeared, locking the door.

Harry sat up quickly, he didn't bother to try the door, he couldn't get out without a wand and besides, there was probably some sort of alarm attached to it.

Instead he jumped off the bed and started edging along the wall, tapped carefully on it. _A hollow sound,_ he thought. _A hollow sound means a passageway in the walls … a passageway means my ticket out of here._

He stopped as one of his taps made a slightly different sound. He tapped again and grinned but a second later his grin vanished.

_Great Potter. You've found your secret passageway but now what are you going to do? Knock the wall down?_

Harry considered the idea for half a second before realising it would probably alert all the Order members straight away.

"Um-" he said unsurely before suddenly realising something. It wouldn't hurt to try, would it?

He closed his eyes and tried to imaginethe snake thathe'd set on Dudley years ago, the one that had never seen Brazil.

"Open," he said.

There was a funny crunching sound and Harry's eyes flew open. Where a solid wall had once been was now a black hole, rapidly rearranging itself to form an archway. Harry stepped forward into the tunnel and turned around, saying "Close," having no need to imagine a snake now.

_It's amazing,_ he thought, as he ran silently through the tunnel. _It's like – it's like the whole house can be opened with parseltongue. Like – like it's tailored for parselmouth or something._

It probably wasn't really for a parselmouth though. Mr & Mrs Black probably only put it there for decoration, to seem even more like loyal followers of Voldemort. He could just imagine it:

"_Well, if you think that's impressive, you should see our house. We have secret passageways that can be opened only by parselmouths."_

"_Oh, how charming. Perfect for the Dark Lord to pop by for tea!"_

Harry grinned but stopped the train of thought, which was getting weird way to quickly. He tried to get back to searching for an exit.

He sneaked along the labyrinth of passageways, until one particular conversation caught his interest.

"It's terrible, what's happened to Harry Potter," came a women's voice.

"Do you remember when it first happened?" said another women.

Harry went instantly still at the sound of his name and he carefully slid down to the floor, putting his ear to the walls, trying to hear better. He recognised the woman who had just spoken as Mrs Weasley.

"Yes, he was only 13, wasn't he?"

"And there was all that fuss, campaigns and everything. Do you remember the 'Free the Potter One' petition?"

A slight laugh.

"Oh, yes. I even signed it. We were all going to send it to You-Know-Who and ask him to free the poor boy. As if it would've made a difference."

"And then when-"

"Yeah."

"When he came out-"

"He was one of them."

"Only a child!"

"I was so scared for our Susan, I thought; if he can do that to Harry Potter, who's to say he can't to it to any other child?"

"Oh, Penny, don't think about that. What happened to the boy, he must have gone through so much, torture, you know? You-Know-Who wants us to be scared, that's why he did it…."

Harry moved away after that, his head buzzing with answered questions. Everything was so different, it was like – it was like this was all some weird dream he was having, that he would wake up from and soon forget.

He wished he could wake up.

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Alright, just another short note. In the next chapter Harry will definately find out he's in an AU, I can't really string it out any longer. Also, we'll see Luna soon and Draco Malfoy if I can fit him in.

Thanks for reading!


	7. The Truth

Disclaimer

I don't own Harry Potter or any of the characters and I'm not making any money from this.

Author's Note

Alright, sorry to everyone how this has taken so long. My computer has been working really badly for about 3 months, first it would restart itself after 10 minutes and then it eventually wouldn't start at all. I got it fixed but it started doing the same thing about 2 weeks later.

Anyway, it's fixed now, and to make up for the delay it's a longer chapter then usual. Enjoy!

The Truth

Harry inched forward along the passage. For a while now the tunnel had been getting steadily smaller, as well as sloping slightly upwards, until he was reduced to crawling on his stomach.

Harry edged forwards but his shoulders scraped the sides of the tunnel and he stopped, breathing heavily. He stretched out an arm and tentatively felt the solid bricks beyond.

"Open," he panted in a hiss.

The house seemed to creak and the wall ahead of Harry rearranged itself to form a hole, widening the tunnel around Harry in the process.

He pulled himself out of the house and lay on the surface outside for a time, drinking in the fresh air and waiting for his heart beat to slow down.

Shortly, he sat up, suddenly realising that he was sat on the roof of Grimmauld Place. He clutched the roofing tiles reflexively, his heart suddenly pounding again. He pushed himself further up, away from the edge and found that little ledges formed under his feet, preventing him from losing his grip.

Harry stared for a second and carefully moved one of his legs, watching in awe at the tiles moving around under his feet.

"It's protecting me…" he murmured in sudden understanding, and he patted the roof, grinning.

However, before Harry could think more about this, noises from down below cut off his musings. He crept forward carefully and leaned over the edge, peering down at the street below.

Snape was lurking near the door, his wand out, suspiciously examining the area around Grimmauld Place. Harry watched for a second and then, unable to resist, gave Snape the finger and ducked back, grinning.

Finding his footing quickly, Harry climbed further up the roof of the house until he reached the top. He stopped for a second to catch his breath, one leg resting on either side of the roof and looked out over London.

It was a very nice view and he would have liked to stay there a bit longer, had it not just started raining. Harry stared up at the sky in disbelief and then, grumbling about English weather and how it was meant to be summer, he made his way down the other side of the roof, crawling on his front.

He stared over the edge to the pavement below, rapidly losing his enthusiasm for getting down. He had to be about three floors up. Tentatively he pushed his foot forward slightly and let it dangle over the empty space.

There was a tense moment where nothing happened but suddenly solid ground materialized under Harry's feet, rapidly forming into a staircase. Quickly, Harry jumped onto it and ran down to the ground.

About 10 minutes had passed before Harry finally stopped running and decided that he wasn't being followed. He slowed to a walk and looked around, trying to decide where he was.

Thankfully, he was in Muggle London, so Harry wouldn't have any crazy witches or wizards after him. This was, of course, assuming that the Muggles hadn't decided to go crazy as well.

He looked around and noticed a family staring at him rather oddly. Harry's cheeks flushed red and he ducked into the nearest call box, feeling more than a little paranoid, and tried to look busy leafing through the phone book.

After a few minutes he looked up, and was relieved to see that the family had disappeared. He stayed in the call box a little while longer, however, looking through the phone book. He was really just killing time until he had to make a decision.

_Huh, someone's called Mr Love,_ he thought absently, scanning down the L names. _And there's a Loveless here as well ... wait a minute._

Harry quickly stopped and flicked back to the page he'd just been on.

Lovegood.

He looked around suddenly, as if someone was reading over his shoulder and then turned back. Was it possible? Could it be-?

But why would Luna be in the Muggle phone book? Was her dad Muggle-born or something? As far as Harry knew, Luna was pureblood so…

Harry flexed his fingers reflexively, suddenly consumed by the urge to ring the number. It could be possible, and besides, who else could he go to? He'd just about run out of friends to go to now and maybe, since Luna was so crazy herself, maybe she'd believe him.

His mind made up he grabbed the phone and, dialling the reverse call number before, dialled the number for Lovegood. He twisted the phone cord around his finger, feeling his stomach twist itself into knots with nervousness at the same time.

"Hello?"

The voice was unmistakably female, but Harry couldn't tell if it was Luna or not. He opened his mouth to speak and found himself suddenly unable to speak.

"_Hello_?"

"Er-" said Harry. What had he been meaning to say?

"Who's this?" said the woman.

"Ah, well, um … is Luna there?" Harry stammered.

There was silence on the phone, then the voice said, quite normally, "Ring a ring o' rosies?"

"What?"

The voice said again, "Ring a ring o' rosies?"

"Er – a pocket full of posies?" said Harry hesitantly, wondering why the voice was quoting Muggle nursery rhymes at him.

"Bond." said the voice, still seemingly intent on giving him a Muggle trivia quiz.

Harry paused a second this time before answering, "James Bond?"

There was ominous silence at the other end before the voice said, suddenly softening "Yes, that's right. What were you ringing for?"

_Was that some sort of code?_ thought Harry. _The Order of the Phoenix, maybe?_

"Um - I just wanted to talk to Luna, that's all," said Harry, starting to wonder if this was such a good idea.

"Who's calling?"

"Er…" Harry paused a second before answering. "Ron Weasley."

"Ron?" said the woman, sounding incredulous and angry. "You shouldn't be using this line; you know it's only for emergencies."

"Well, Dad's just installed a phone and, er … I wanted to test it out," said Harry, a bit lamely, feeling uneasy telling the lie.

"Only this once then," said the woman. "I'll just get her, wait a second."

There was a few second silence before a new voice answered the phone, unmistakably Luna.

"Yes?" she said dreamily, sounding as though she was still asleep.

Harry laughed, mostly from relief at hearing a familiar voice.

"Still the same, eh Luna?" he said, smiling.

Luna didn't seem as happy to hear from him. There was a brief pause before she said, in a sharper voice, "You're not Ron. Who are you?"

"Look, that doesn't matter," said Harry, determined not to mention his name. "I just really need to talk to you Luna. I'm – I'm a friend, alright?"

"A friend…"

"That's what I said!" said Harry, finding he was getting inexplicably angry. "I'm not here to kill anyone, or hurt anyone and I'm not – I'm not a Deatheater!"

"Ah," said Luna, her misty voice taking an air of knowingness. "I know who you are."

"No-wait-" said Harry urgently. "It's not what you think. I'm not trying to … I just need a friend. I mean, we were friends, I-I don't understand why-"

"We were friends?"

"_Yes!_ Don't you remember, it was only a year ago, that's all."

"Memory can play some strange tricks," said Luna in a sing-song voice.

"Luna, look – this is – why are we even talking about this? I need to see you," he said bluntly.

There was silence on the other end.

"Luna? Don't hang up, okay? I don't understand anything that's happening. Everyone's acting so strange, they all – they think I'm a Deatheater or something! And I'm not, but I need someone to talk to. And I thought you could … help me or something."

"Everyone thinks you've lost your mind," said Luna.

"Yes I know that," said Harry testily. "But will you meet me?"

Luna paused before answering, "I might," in a tone that suggesting she was rather enjoying this.

"Okay, well – I suppose we could meet somewhere in-"

"You could come to the house."

Harry wasn't sure he'd heard her properly. "Er – what? Won't your dad be there? What if he-"

"Oh, mummy and daddy are going out tonight. I'll be staying in the house. There are wards of course, but I could disable them."

"Really?"

"Yes. They'll set off an alarm though … you should have around five minutes to talk to me."

"I think that could be enough … what's your address?"

Harry quickly breathed on the side of the call box and wrote the address on the glass as Luna read it out to him. He repeated it under his breath, trying to memorise it.

"I'll see you at 8 then," she said.

"Yeah – no, wait. Wait a sec," said Harry, suddenly panicky. "You won't – you won't call anyone, will you? The police or the Aurors?"

There a pause before Luna answered, "I won't if you won't."

* * *

Harry stood outside Luna's house, underneath a tree and trying to escape the rain. It had taken him two bus journey's to get here and most of the day. The bus journey had been relatively short, but it had taken him a long time to amass the £5.45 he'd needed for the journey. 

Now he was here, his plan seemed very risky. How was he meant to know when to go into the house without a watch? When was Mr Lovegood going to leave? When would he know when Luna had disabled the wards?

Finally, the door to the house opened and two adults came out, laughing together. Harry moved further into the darkness but squinted his eyes to see better. The man must be Luna's dad but who was the woman? Did Luna's dad have a girlfriend?

The two adults stepped into a car and a moment later it moved into the road and drove away. Harry stayed under the tree for a while longer before hesitantly stepping out into the light.

Was he meant to wait for a signal? Would he know if the wards were disabled?

He stood there waiting for five minutes and when nothing happened he cautiously moved towards the house. He pressed the door handle and let it swing open. No alarms sounded and Harry assumed he was safe.

He stepped into the dark house, looking around for Luna but too scared to call her name in the darkness.

There was a faint light coming from one of the rooms and Harry crept carefully over to it, glancing up at the dark staircase as he walked past it.

The source of the light became clear when he entered the room. It was coming from a model of two galaxies, spinning around each other, both identical. Harry gazed at it, feeling strangely at peace.

"It's beautiful, isn't it?" came a voice from behind him.

Harry nodded, not taking his eyes off the model.

"What – what is it?" he asked.

"It's an alternate universe model," replied Luna. "Some wizards believe that there are an infinite number of alternate universes existing alongside our own. That one only shows two though."

Harry slowly sat down, to look at the model better.

"How do they get created?" he asked, staring at the two Milky Ways slowly rotating.

"Every time a small change happens there is an alternate possibility that occurs in another universe," said Luna, and her voice seemed to be getting closer to Harry. "Like, Dumbledore defeated Grindelwald about 50 years ago here but in another universe he may have lost against Grindelwald. That's when an alternate universe is created."

"What about-" said Harry, his mouth suddenly dry. "What about a universe where some people died but in another universe they didn't. Is-is that possible?"

"Oh yes," said Luna. "And maybe there's another universe where I decided to let you go free, but that isn't this universe."

Harry sprang up, ready to race for the door but ropes suddenly appearing, wrapping themselves around him and knocking him to the floor. He twisted his head to try to see better and saw Luna slowly walking over to him, her wand pointed steadily at him.

"In five minutes," she said, "Aurors will arrive here. They were alerted as soon as you walked through the door. So what did you come here for?"

"Luna," said Harry urgently. "I know what's going on now. You were saying, about the alternate universes and that's … Don't you understand? That's why Sirius was alive and Cedric was alive and-and my parents. That's why everyone thought I was a Deatheater. This is – this must be an alternate universe!"

Luna smiled at him. "That's very clever Harry, using what I've just been talking about to try to talk your way out."

"No – Luna! I'm not lying. I think that somehow I got here but – I come from somewhere different," Harry said quickly, seeing Luna was looking half-believing. "And-and the universe where I come from is – it's like … my parents are dead and Cho's still alive and Voldemort was defeated 16 years ago and I'm not a Deatheater!"

"You come from an alternate universe?" asked Luna, and she sat down beside him and peered into his eyes, as if they would hold a clue.

"That's it!" said Harry, and he felt like crying with relief. All this time he hadn't known, why everything was so strange and now… "Look-look, see. I'm probably different to the Harry you knew. See, I've got a scar on my forehead … I bet he doesn't have that."

"Everyone thought you were mad," said Luna softly, staring at Harry as though she'd discovered the meaning of life.

"Loony Loopy Luna," said Harry, smiling at her and he tried to move towards her, whether to give her a hug or something he didn't know, but his movements were suddenly cut short by the ropes.

Luna jumped and realised she still had him tied up. She quickly waved her wand, making the ropes disappear and helped Harry stand up. She didn't, however, put her wand down.

"I'll ring the Aurors," she said, and took a small butterfly slide out of her hair. Harry stared at her but she just pressed the slide lightly and held it to her ear. She motioned at Harry to be quiet.

"Hello?" she said, into the slide. There was a pause before she replied. "Yes, I'm sorry about that, it was an accident." She paused again. "I thought someone was outside … no, it was just a Muggle … I've dealt with him."

She paused and looked at Harry, still keeping her wand pointed at him. "No, you don't need to bother, I'm fine … it's okay, really, don't trouble yourselves … no-I-"

Luna stopped suddenly mid-sentence, and with a sigh she put the slide back in her hair.

"I don't think they believed me," she said to Harry.

"Should I go?" Harry asked, looking around nervously for Aurors.

"It would be best," said Luna. "Where are you going to go?"

Harry shrugged. "I don't know … maybe back to Grimmauld Place … look, I'd better go, it must have been five minutes already."

He turned to go through the door but turned suddenly and hugged Luna tightly before she could put her wand up again.

"Thanks," he breathed, burying his face in her hair.

He let go of her and Luna stared at him, a strange expression on her face. Harry didn't dwell on it too long though, and quickly ran softly to the door. He opened it slightly and stared out. The street seemed deserted…

"Here," said Luna, right behind Harry, making him jump. "Here's some Muggle money," and she shoved a five pound note into his hand. "Take the back door."

Harry nodded and shoved the money into his pocket. Luna pointed down a corridor and he ran down it, reaching the door at the end. He opened it as quietly as possibly and shut it behind him.

He was standing in a very small back garden, facing onto a railway line. He looked around and crept across the garden, towards the railway line. Maybe he'd be able to escape along there.

There was a sudden whispering sound from his right and Harry turned around, barely missing a stunning spell. He swore under his breath and ran for the railway line flat out.

"DROP YOUR WAND AND PUT YOUR HANDS UP!" came a magically magnified voice.

Harry ignored it and scrabbled up the hill, trying to avoid the explosion of spells that were racing through the air. The punch to his face happened before he'd even noticed.

Harry was flung back and hit the ground hard. He threw up his arm to try to defend himself from any other blows but none came. Instead a hand grabbed him and pulled him onto his feet.

"Get up Harry," said a voice harshly.

Harry opened his eyes and stared incredulously at the man holding his arm. Remus Lupin.

"What do you think you're doing Harry?" hissed Remus, looking the angriest Harry had ever seen him. Harry actually felt a bit frightened and tried to free his arm from Remus' iron grip.

"Remus?" Harry said. "What are you-? Let me go!" and he tried to pull himself further up the bank towards the railway line.

Remus didn't let go and shook Harry hard. "Don't you think Luna's had enough of you? You messed with her enough before, why did you have to come back?"

"What?" said Harry and tried again to free his arm.

Remus began to pull him down the hill but a spell suddenly shot from the house and he fell to the floor, stunned. Harry didn't waste any time seeing who had cast the spell but just ran up the hill.

When he reached the railway line he looked down and saw Luna standing by the back door, her hands up, as two Aurors pointed their wands at her.

Harry didn't have time to wonder why Luna had saved him as the Aurors were still firing spells at him. He turned sharply to the left and ran along the railway line. When he heard feet behind him he jumped off the hill, landed hard on the road and carried on running.

His breath came in sharp gasps and he was starting to wonder how long he could keep this up when a London Underground sign came into view. He grinned and ran down the steps, blinking slightly at the unnatural light.

_Okay,_ thought Harry. _The London Underground. Maybe I can lose the Aurors in here. Just depends on whether there's a train in or not._

He vaulted over the ticket stiles, ignoring the shouts and ran down the first tunnel he saw. He could hear the sounds of a train and ran even faster, praying he'd be able to get there in time.

The last stragglers were already getting in the train when Harry reached the station. He put on an extra burst of speed and stretched out his hand just enough to stop the train doors closing. He breathed a sigh of relief and quickly stepped on the train, pressing the 'close door' button multiple times.

Finally he heard the woman's voice say, "Doors closing," and he let himself relax, leaning back. There was just a glimpse of an Auror running into the station before the train shot into the tunnel.

It was five minutes before the train stopped at the next station. Harry stepped out and looked around. There didn't seem to be any Aurors nearby so he decided they mustn't have been able to figure out the London Underground map or just hadn't arrived yet.

Either way, he couldn't stay here.

He walked out of the station and stepped into the dark streets. The night air was cool and crisp and he guessed it was around 10 o'clock. He needed somewhere to stay.

After walking around for half an hour, he found a deserted park. Deciding it was better than nothing he climbed over the gate and dropped down. He found a park bench shortly after and curled up on it, wrapping his jumper around himself.

Harry woke up about 10 hours later to someone persistently poking him in the shoulder. He opened and eyes and found two kids staring at him.

* * *

"Er-" said Harry hesitantly but he was cut off by a woman shouting. 

"Liam! Dominic!" shouted the boy's mother, appearing around the corner.

"Mum!" yelled one of the kids in a whiny voice. "Why's this person sleeping in the park?"

The boy's mother gasped and turned to look at Harry. "You stay away from my children!" she yelled and batted at Harry, who put up his arms in a feeble defence.

She grabbed her children and marched away quickly, muttering to herself.

"Druggies in the park, what if he had _AIDs_ or something? If I ever-"

Harry blanked her out at this point and sat up, rubbing his eyes at the bright light. He yawned and stretched his arms, trying to get rid of the ache in his back. He stood up and started walking out of the park.

He was going to have to find his way to Grimmauld Place again, that much was clear. Maybe if he found Dumbledore he could somehow explain everything to him; what he'd found out at Luna's.

Harry put his arms up against the harsh glare of the sun. It was certainly a change from yesterday. The store owners were just opening up and some cafes had even put some chairs outside for people to sit down. Personally, Harry thought this was a bit optimistic, it was bound to start to start raining some time today.

He fumbled in his pockets to try and find the Muggle money Luna had given him. He should be able to catch the train or something to get to Grimmauld Place…

Suddenly, something grabbed Harry's collar and he was jerked backwards and pulled into a nearby alley. The attacker seized the lapels of his jacket and shoved him up against the wall, banging his head in the process.

Harry gave a yelp when he saw who his attacker was.

"M-Malfoy," he said weakly.

"Harry," responded Malfoy, looking grimly determined. "I've been looking for you."

"Er-hmm," was all Harry could say. He couldn't help thinking that as this was an alternate universe, this Malfoy was likely to be a hardened Deatheater.

"Yeah," said Malfoy, backing off from Harry but still keeping his wand trained on him. "You've been turning up in all sorts of places. St. Mungo's, Ministry of Magic, Dumbledore's Headquarters. If you'd just stayed with the Dark Lord instead of running off you would have been fine. So I've come to take you back. Come on. Or do I have to drag you there?"

"Uh-well, there's something I've been meaning to tell you," said Harry, as tactfully as he could manage. "You know, this Deatheater business. I've – uh, been thinking that maybe it just isn't for me." He gave a weak smile. "Uh … sorry?"

"Nice try Harry," said Malfoy. "But somehow I don't think the Dark Lord's going to accept that one. But why don't you try talking to Him about it?"

Harry tried to move away but Malfoy slammed his arm down against the wall, blocking his escape route. He started to feel annoyed now. He had been so close to getting to Grimmauld Place and sorting this mess out.

"Look – this is – this isn't fair!" he protested, even though he felt a bit like a spoilt kid saying it. "I haven't even got a wand to fight you!"

"Well that's what you get for letting yourself be captured by the Ministry," said Malfoy, his expression hard. Then quite suddenly he seemed to cave in and he rubbed his face with his hand, looking tired. "I don't want to fight you," he said. "We're friends, right? We're on the same side."

"Well … will you let me go then, Malfoy?" said Harry hesitantly. It was worth a try at least.

"It's Draco," said Malfoy.

"Huh?"

"My name," Malfoy repeated. "It's Draco. Not Malfoy. Call me by my name, okay?"

"Er…"

"What's the _matter_ with you?" Malfoy asked suddenly, looking annoyed. "Why are acting so weird? You keep calling me Malfoy and you're acting like you hate me. I mean, did I do something to upset you or what?"

Harry was stumped. "Uh, look – uh…"

"It's Draco."

"Um…"

"Draco."

"Er, yes. Draco. Right, look, er … Draco … um, maybe we should talk about this some other time 'cos I've got somewhere I need to be right now … so I'd appreciate it if-"

His words were suddenly cut off when Malfoy grabbed hold of him and pulled him further into the alley, smothering Harry's mouth with his hand so he couldn't shout.

"Mnh!" said Harry, indignantly.

Malfoy just shushed him quietly and continued to stare at the busy street. Harry, catching his drift, quickly looked over as well, at first seeing nothing but a normal London street full of busy people. Then a familiar bald head came into view, gold glinting from the ear. _Kingsley!_

Harry tried to shout and he struggled to free himself from Malfoy. If he could just reach an Order member he'd be able to get to Dumbledore.

"Are you insane?" Malfoy hissed and pulled Harry further into the alley. "You're dead if you get taken by one of Dumbledore's lot."

Harry fought back even harder but try as he might, he couldn't even move Malfoy's arm that was holding him back. Finally, sick of struggling and getting nowhere, he just stuck his leg out behind him, tripping both him and Malfoy over in the process.

Harry landed hard on top of Malfoy's chest, for a few seconds, he was temporarily winded. But, most annoyingly, Malfoy's arm was still holding onto him.

"Malfoy, you idiot!" Harry hissed and tried to push Malfoy's arm off him. "Get off me!"

He rolled over and grabbed at Malfoy's hand, trying to prise his wand off him. Malfoy fought back and kicked him, as well as trying to push him away. There were a few minutes of frenzied fighting before somehow, Harry didn't quite know how, Malfoy's wand ended up in his hand.

Harry stared at it for a second before quickly jumping backwards and aiming the wand at Malfoy, who was still lying on the floor, breathing heavily. Malfoy stared back at him with something like betrayal in his eyes and stopped for a second to wipe away the blood on his lips.

Harry caught his breath for a second and opened his mouth to stay something before stopping and realising what he held in his hand.

"Er-your wand…" said Harry, not really sure what he was saying. Malfoy looked slightly confused. "Er-yes," said Harry, gathering his thoughts. "Your wand, how did you get it back? I lost it after I took it off you."

Malfoy looked annoyed and embarrassed now. "I had to buy a new one," he said.

Despite himself, Harry found himself smiling and even laughing a bit. He put it down to temporary insanity. What was even more surprising, however, was the fact that Malfoy was smiling back at him, albeit a bit hesitantly.

"We're okay, aren't we Harry?" said Malfoy. "We're still friends, right?"

Harry hesitated slightly before nodding. He supposed he was just feeling sorry for Malfoy. The Malfoy he'd used to know had _never_ acted like this.

Remembering what he was meant to be doing, Harry fidgeted a little and looked over his shoulder. _Kingsley had better still be there,_ he thought.

"You can go if you want," said Malfoy, seeing what Harry was looking at. "I mean, you beat me, without even a wand, so … I'll let it slide just this once."

Harry nodded and, still keeping his wand at Malfoy in case he did anything, edged out of the alley and into the street. As soon as he was taken over by the bustle of the crowd he started running, glancing everywhere to see if Kingsley was still there.

After having run up and down the street twice it was clear that Kingsley Shacklebolt was gone. Harry slowed down to a stop and swore. What had Kingsley been doing there? Was he looking for Harry, or was it just some routine patrol thing?

He gritted his teeth slightly for a second before deciding it didn't matter too much. He'd probably see Kingsley at Grimmauld Place anyway.

* * *

Harry stood outside Grimmauld Place a few hours later. As far as he could tell it was deserted. If someone was on guard they would have seen him and captured him already. Well, it looked like he'd have to do it himself. 

"Hello!" he shouted at the house. "Hey, anyone in! Out here you stupid Order people! HEY!"

"Will you keep the bliddin' noise down!" someone yelled. Harry looked over to the next house to see a woman hanging out of the window, looking annoyed, a cigarette hanging out of her mouth.

"Oh shut up!" Harry yelled back and then continued to shout at Grimmauld Place, as well as jumping up and down and waving his hands.

"HELLO!" he yelled. "Look! It's me, Harry Potter, come and arrest me!" The woman in the window gasped at that point and quickly retreated into her house. "If you don't come and get me I can just as easily get in myself!" he shouted. "Yeah, watch out I'll use my parseltongue ability!"

He attempted to make a scary 'Oooh' sound at that point but found he just couldn't keep a straight face and the rest of his yells were reduced to a laughing fit.

The door slammed open suddenly and Harry looked over to see a furious Snape and a very puzzled Dumbledore. The rest of the Order were peering out of the house, their mouths open with shock.

"Well, it's about time," was all Harry had time to say before he hit the ground from a stunning spell.

* * *

Inside Grimmauld Place James was sitting on the floor of his and Lily's room leafing through a transcript of one of Harry's sessions when he'd been at St. Mungo's. Lily was sitting on a chair in the opposite side of the room looking through newspaper clippings they'd saved from when Harry had been found. 

"Lily-" James started to say before being cut off from yells from outside. He looked up but stopped and went back to his work when he heard a woman's voice yelling from outside.

"That bloody woman," said Lily quietly.

"Who's she arguing with this time?" said James testily. "The milkman?"

Lily smiled and carried on reading. James put his piece of paper to the side and listened to the argument, figuring it had to be more exciting that what he and Lily were doing now.

"HELLO!" the person was yelling, just faintly audible from where James was. "Look! It's me, Harry Potter-"

"What the-" James exclaimed and ran to the window, Lily following him. "It's-it's Harry…" he said disbelievingly.

From their vantage point, Lily and James could see their son, Harry, standing outside Grimmauld Place, jumping up and down and yelling at the top of his voice.

"Come and arrest me!" he shouted.

"Why has he come back?" whispered Lily. James shook his head, struck dumb.

"If you don't come and get me I can just as easily get in myself!" Harry was shouting. "Yeah, watch out I'll use my parseltongue ability!" James sucked in his breath with shock at this point.

Harry opened his mouth as if to speak again but seemed to be taken by some sort of laughing fit. There was a loud banging noise from downstairs as the front door opened and a second later a stunning spell shot out from the house and knocked him unconscious.

Lily turned and fled down the stairs, James following her close behind.

"Is he alright? Is he alright?" Lily was saying rapidly as she ran down the stairs and saw Harry's body being levitated into the house.

"What was he thinking?" exclaimed James as he jumped down the last couple of steps and stared at his son.

Dumbledore looked at them. "We're taking Harry to a secure location to question him," he said. "It's dangerous to have him here. Severus and James will accompany me."

"But-" Lily protested.

"It's okay," said James, reassuring her. "I'll take good care of him and you can come see him a little later, right Albus?"

Dumbledore nodded and held out what looked like a baked beans can. He grabbed Harry's arm and placed his finger on it.

"James, Severus," he said and the two touched the portkey before the entire group disappeared.

* * *

Harry came to later in a non-descript grey room. He was sitting down in a chair and, thankfully, was not tied up. Dumbledore was sitting across from him wearing a very grave expression. Harry pushed himself further up in the chair and rubbed restlessly at his scar, which was starting to twinge slightly. 

"So," said Dumbledore, giving Harry a piercing look. "You came back."

"Yeah," said Harry, slightly nervously. "I went to Luna's first and-"

"Yes," interrupted Dumbledore. "We already know about that. Why did you go to see her, Harry?"

"Look, that doesn't really matter," said Harry quickly, trying to explain. "I just need to-"

"On the contrary," said Dumbledore. "I believe it is very important. How do you think Luna felt, seeing you after all this time?"

"Wha-?"

"Was that your intention, Harry? To upset her even more?"

"Er-no … I mean … Luna used to know me?" Harry said in confusion. "Were we friends?"

Dumbledore's eyes hardened and he fixed Harry with a very calculation look. "I wouldn't say you are, now," he replied.

Harry bit his lip in nervousness and tried to start again. "Can we just go back to what we were talking about before? I-I found out something when I was at Luna's … and-" he broke off and pressed his hand to his forehead, breathing hard. He was starting to feel angry with this whole situation.

"Is something the matter?" he heard Dumbledore ask.

"No, I just-" said Harry, feeling irritation starting to rise. For God's sake, he just needed to explain this and Dumbledore wouldn't even let him finish a sentence.

_The meddling old man, he'd pay for everything, he'd pay for taking _him.

The pain in his forehead was almost blinding him and Harry was dimly aware that he had staggered to his feet, still clutching his scar. Seeing Dumbledore sitting there, looking mildly confused, seemed to enrage Harry even more.

The last thing he was aware of was suddenly screaming and throwing his chair at the wall…

* * *

Slowly, Harry came to realise that he was lying on the floor. The side of his head hurt. He coughed and raised his hand to touch his head. His fingers came away bloody. 

"What-?" he said in a voice that seemed very weak, as though he had been shouting.

He looked up and saw Dumbledore, James and Snape all standing around him, their wand pointed at him.

"What happened?" he asked blankly, trying to sit but stopped when James and Snape raised their wand threateningly.

"What do you mean?" asked James, and Harry noticed his voice was shaking. "You attacked Albus, we had to come in and subdue you."

Harry stared at them for a second before he began to grasp the situation. That anger he had felt hadn't been his. "No…" he gasped in horror. "No – I didn't – I didn't … it wasn't me!"

"Take Potter to a secure room," said Dumbledore, not looking at Harry.

"I didn't do it!" Harry protested but James and Snape both grabbed his arms and firmly led him out. The last thing he saw was Dumbledore looking at him with a deeply disappointed and betrayed look. Harry suddenly felt, with despair, that he would never get Dumbledore to trust him again.


	8. Fixing Harry

Disclaimer

I don't own Harry Potter or any of the characters and I'm not making any money from this.

Author's Note

Well ... I've finally got out a new chapter of Disappear. A year later. I'm really really sorry to everyone who's been following this story. I've just had such a rough eight months that all of my creative hobbies (writing, drawing, music) pretty much disappeared. I'm determined to change that now though, and I'm going to try to get back into writing regularly.

Thanks to everyone who's still reading, I hope you enjoy!

Fixing Harry

Harry yelled and gripped his hair with his hands. It had been almost three hours that he had been left in here, and his anger had been gradually rising for every minute longer he spent in there. He had tried yelling that he was sorry several times through the wall but no-one had answered.

He pressed his back against the wall and kicked his legs against the floor, trying to let out some of his anger. He wasn't going to let Voldemort do this, he wasn't, he wasn't. He scrunched his hands together and folded his body over, hugging his knees and tensing his entire body.

He stood up suddenly and started pacing quickly around the room, glaring angrily at the blank space in the wall where there should be a door. So maybe it wasn't really _his _anger but it still felt good to let out some of his emotions.

And after all, didn't he have a right to be angry anyway? He'd tried to them the truth but they all refused to listen, preferring to spin their own theories as to what was wrong with him. If they'd just _listened._

"You can't keep me in here!" he yelled. "I'm innocent, I haven't done anything!"

There was no reply. He ran up to the wall and slammed his palm against it. "Bastards!" he screamed. It felt good. He started punching it and kicking it, shouting out every swearword he knew.

There was no reply. He stared at the wall, breathing heavily, before running over to bed and attempted to turn it over, but finding it magically sealed to the floor. In a loss of anything else to do he grabbed the bedsheets and threw them onto the floor. They lay there on the floor for a second before picking themselves up and rearranging themselves into a perfectly made bed again.

With a howl of anger Harry ran over to the wall and pummelled it furiously, shouting the whole time.

"You fing Order people! I hate you! You never bloody listen! Well now I'm not going to tell you anything! You hear that! I'm – not – going – to – tell – you – anything!"

There was the distant sound of a door opening and someone yelling at him to shut up. Harry screamed and called the man the worst swearword he knew. There was an ominous silence for a second before he heard the sound of a door slamming somewhere and quick footsteps.

Harry backed away from the wall, breathing furiously, feeling just about ready to attack the person when he came in. There was a slight shimmering in the air and James Potter strode in, his face like thunder, Lily following, although it looked like she had been trying to stop him.

"Will you just _shut_ the hell up!" James yelled the moment he walked in. "Stop being such a spoilt brat!"

"You can't tell me what to do!" Harry shouted back, his fists clenched. "You're not my dad!"

At this, James face went purple. "I _am_ your father and you will do what I say!"

"I won't!" Harry screamed, and he began to feel detached from the scene, as though these emotions weren't actually his. "You can't make me do anything!"

He had a glimpse of James' face twisting in anger before he was hit hard around the face and flung onto the floor. James stood there for a few seconds frozen in shock, his fist still raised in the air before he was pushed aside by Lily.

She ran forwards and knelt down beside her son, trying to help him up but he shoved her away violently and raised himself shakily into a sitting position, not looking at either Lily or James.

He sat there for a few seconds, breathing heavily before suddenly yelling and punching the floor. Lily jumped and James, shocked out of his stupor, stepped forwards, his speech shaky.

"Harry, listen I-"

"SHUT UP!"

There was a ringing silence after Harry's outburst, and he clenched his fists, grinding the next words out of his mouth.

"Just ... don't-don't go near me," he said, his teeth gritted. "I'm not myself, so go away, go away, I don't want to hurt anyone!"

"What do you-"

"Can't you just take me at my word for once!" he shouted. "He's in my head, he's angry and I can't - I can't _stop_ him if you stay there!"

James looked over at Lily, his face showing confusion and worry, she nodded slightly and stood up, touching James softly and leading him out of the room. Harry watched them steadily until they left, letting out a breath he had been holding.

Another flash of pain hit him and he grimaced, curling himself into a ball and clutching his hair, rocking forwards and backwards, muttered words streaming from his mouth.

"Get out of my head Voldemort, get out get out get-"

* * *

Harry was poking morosely through his food when one of the four walls of his room made a crunching noise and rearranged itself into a door. He looked up, feeling slightly bored and not in the mood to talk to anyone. 

The fact that it was Dumbledore did nothing to improve his mood. He had come to realise that this Dumbledore was different to the one he had known back home.

"So what now?" he said surlily. "Come to enlighten me on another one of your theories? What it is this time? I'm being controlled by aliens? Or perhaps I've got an evil twin?"

Dumbledore only fixed him with piercing eyes and Harry looked away, glaring at his food. He heard Dumbledore conjure a chair and sit down. He could feel he was being stared at and he kept his gaze resolutely downwards.

"We need to talk Harry."

"…"

"A few weeks ago, at the end of your trial, you mentioned a prophecy. What did you mean?"

Harry snorted and turned away before speaking quietly. "… If … I talk to you … then you've got to help me out of here."

A sigh. "I can't promise something like that Harry, we don't release-"

"No, I don't mean that!" said Harry sharply, looking up. "I mean to … to research something, I don't know, about alternate universes, see if there's a way to send me back to mine."

Dumbledore paused for a second, his face revealing a mild curiosity. "Alternate universes…?" he said quietly, almost to himself. "I'm not sure I understand what you mean…"

Harry looked away nervously, chewing on his thumb before saying. "It's the only thing that makes any sense. Everyone is so different here. Where I come from, I-I'm not a Deatheater, Voldemort ... well, he hates me ... my parents are dead over there, Sirius as well ... there's a war going on ... and I-"

"Ah yes, I see," said Dumbledore, his expression closed. "Another universe … you're innocent, you're not the same Harry Potter."

"Y-yeah," he stuttered nervously. "I mean, yeah, that's right. So … do you think you can help me, have you heard about something like this before?"

"Yes," said Dumbledore sharply. "It's remarkable what lies Deatheaters make up when they're cornered. Tales of time-travel, ghosts who possess humans, multiple personalities, I've heard it all. I suppose I should have expected it from you eventually."

"That's-that's … you think I'm lying?" said Harry increduously. "I'm telling the truth! I just found out, you – I need help getting back to my world! I thought you'd help me!"

"I'm not interested in any more lies," said Dumbledore, flatly. "I came here to find out what you know about a certain prophecy."

"Wha-?" said Harry, before his face turned red with anger and he yelled childishly,"I'm not telling you anything if you don't believe me!"

"A few weeks ago, at the end of your trial, you said that you were the one from the prophecy. What did you mean by it?" said Dumbledore, ignoring him.

Harry glared back, his mind ticking away. Was crossing worlds a bit like time-travelling? Hermione had said it wasn't allowed to change things, was it the same here? Would he be messing something up if he let them know something they hadn't known before? If he ... changed something?

"Is it ... a prophecy about ... someone born at the end of the July?" he said, choosing his words carefully.

"_Yes_."

All of Harry's doubts vanished from his mind. It was enough having to deal with the prophecy over in his world, he wasn't going to go anywhere near it over here.

"I don't have a clue what you're talking about," he said abruptly.

Dumbledore expression rapidly darkened. "This isn't a game, Harry," he said.

"I just told you I don't know anything about it," he replied, smirking, having fun riling up Dumbledore.

"_Harry_..."

"What? If you won't listen to me then I won't listen to you," Harry countered, his expression challenging.

Dumbledore paused for a second before sighing and saying, "We've done all we can to help you Harry ... but we can't help anymore. Your actions these last few days, all seem to point to you being, if not a Deatheater, at least dangerous. We can't keep you here any longer. In a few days we'll hand you over to the Ministry. I believe that in light of your most recent behaviour and numerous escape attempts it is unlikely they will send you to St Mungo's again..."

He stood up, his shoulders hunched seemingly in defeat and walked out of the room, leaving Harry sitting there.

* * *

Harry was lying curled up in his bed, sleeping deeply. A faint booming sound reached his ears but he didn't wake up, his brain merely incorporating the sound into his dream. There were sounds of yelling now and he moved slightly, a frown on his face, his dream taking an unpleasant turn. 

He awoke suddenly, jolting, when something boomed loudly close to him. Bits of plaster were falling on his face from the ceiling and he brushed them off, rubbing sleep from his eyes. The room shook from another explosion and Harry sat up, jumping off the bed quickly.

"Hey, what's going on!" he yelled, starting to panic. "Let me out! What's happening out there?"

The ground shook and Harry lost his footing, falling to the ground. He coughed, having accidently inhaled some of the dust and crawled over to the nearest wall.

"Hey! Let me out!" he yelled, in between coughs, banging on the wall. "Someone! Hey-"

He heard something, a voice yell something on the other side, a light seemed to glow from inside the wall and the next second he was flung back through the air. He hit the ground, rolling over a few times before coming to a halt.

He groaned and tried to pull himself up but his breath caught and he started coughing uncontrollably, trying to get rid of all the dirt and grit in his lungs. Finally he as able to stop, although he breathed shallowly, not wanting to start another coughing fit.

Someone was standing over him. He stared up, trying to see through the dust in the air. The person reached forwards and grabbed his hand in a tight grip, bringing their face into view.

"You!" Harry managed to choke out. He coughed again and tried to wrench his arms back but Malfoy's grip remained solid. "Don't tell me you've come after me again! How many times ... do I have to tell you! I don't _want _to come back!"

Malfoy shrugged and waved his wand; a thin light blue rope appeared and tied Harry's hands together tightly, attaching them to Malfoy's left hand.

"So what?" he said, not looking at him. "We've come to find you anyway. Doesn't matter if you don't want to come back." He paused and looked at Harry, his fae serious. "We're going to fix you, okay? We'll get back you back to normal."

Harry pulled his hands back abruptly, disgusted. "_Fix _me? You listen here. I'm not _your _Harry, okay! I'm from - I'm from a different _universe_! I never _was _a Deatheater!"

Malfoy appeared utterly unaffected by Harry's little speech. He stared blankly at him and said, "You finished?" Harry could've screamed.

Malfoy stepped forward before stopped suddenly and saying "Oh yeah, I forgot."

He stretched out a hand and slapped Harry lightly on the neck, who jumped back skittishly. Malfoy held up his hand, showing something that looked a bit like a see-through band-aid.

"Tracking device," he stated, smiling slightly. "I planted it on you when we fought yesterday. You didn't think I really let you go, did you?"

"You-" Harry started, furious that Malfoy had tricked him but stopped when a wand was suddenly pointed between his eyes. His mouth went dry and he found himself unable to say another word.

Malfoy was looking at him with a hard, but slightly pitying look. "Come on," he said simply. He grabbed Harry's hands and lead him out of the room, still keeping his wand pointed at him.

None of the lights were on in the corridor outside, the blackness only broken occasionally by flashes of light. Harry stood stock still, hearing the yells close by and turned in shock to Malfoy.

"You _attacked?_"

"It's okay," said Malfoy reassuringly. "There's hardly any Order members here, and we're getting out of here before any reinforcements show up."

"Not you! What about my - I mean, James and Lily are here! You could hurt them!"

Malfoy started walking down the corridor, sticking close to the walls, dragging Harry along with him and talking, though Harry's mind wasn't really concentrating on his words.

"-never cared before, you won't care when we get you back to normal either, I mean-"

"Dad! Dad!" Harry suddenly shouted and Malfoy whirled around. Behind them, to their left, James Potter was climbing up some stairs, his hand clutching at his side, his mouth open and panting. He was obviously injured.

"James! Quick!"

Harry was still yelling. Malfoy shot a silencing curse at him, grabbed his tied hands and ran down the corridor, narrowly avoiding a curse sent by James. Harry wasn't sure who he had been aiming for.

Their desperate flight was stopped when Malfoy halted suddenly. Harry ran into the back of him and then peered over his shoulder.

Dumbledore was standing a few paces in front of the two, seeming to fill the corridor with his anger. Malfoy, Harry noted, had gone very pale.

"Hands up Malfoy," said a weak voice from behind.

Malfoy spun around, his movements panicked, dragging Harry around with him. James was leaning heavily against the wall, his wand pointed steadily ahead and his eyes hard. Harry smiled with relief at him but James avoided his eyes steadily.

"You're not taking Harry away again!" yelled Malfoy, his voice panicked and slipping higher. "He's ours! You can't have him!"

He fumbled in his pockets for something, bringing out a piece of paper and crumpling it up hastily. His movements were stopped suddenly when Dumbledore shot a stunning spell at him. He fell heavily, dragging Harry down with him.

Harry tried to sit up, fumbling with the ropes tied around his hands. His hand brushed against the piece of paper Malfoy had screwed up and immediately the view around him blurred, fading away, to be replaced by something darker.

His scar started burning as soon as he hit the ground. His free hand pressed tightly against his forehead, he tried to edge away from the pain, half-pulling Malfoy with him but his pathetic movements were stopped when he hit a soft form behind him. Dimly he realised black cloaked figures were standing all around him but the pain was so much that he felt only the slightest bit of worry.

The tallest figure waved one deathly white hand and immediately Harry's eyes rolled back in his head and he felt himself falling ... falling...

* * *

Harry slowly opened his eyes, his vision blurred and his head aching, feeling as if he had been unconscious for an age. Thick vapours hung in the air and there seemed to a lot of activity around him. He tried to turn his head but his body didn't seem to respond. 

Someone bent over him and a man's voice said, "Here, drink this." A heavy goblet was pushed to his lips and Harry drank it, too weak to protest. The room seemed to spin upside down and he clung onto the table that he was lying on, terrified that he was going to fall.

"Any reaction?" came a voice Harry recognised as Snape's.

"Not in any useful way," said the other man. "Maybe if we change the catalyst we could get a better result."

A sigh. "No, we'll need to substitute the wormswort for something stronger…"

The voices faded and mixed together into a howl of sound, the world was spinning and Harry let himself slip away again.

The cycle seemed to go on for an age. Now and then he woke up, like a swimmer briefly touching the surface, before slipping into the dark waters of the unconscious again. He was given potions to drink, spells were performed on him and occasionally he was asked a few questions. Sometimes there were people around him, sometimes he was alone, but he never had enough energy to stay awake for more than a few minutes.

The next time he woke he was hovering in mid air and several witches and wizards were standing around him, some leafing through ancient books and other scribbling frantically on pieces of parchement. Harry realised with mild curiousity that his whole body felt numb, as though he had just been dunked in icy water.

He tried to move his arm and brought it up way too quickly, smacking it against the side of his head. He stared at it and tried again but the movement felt clumsy, as if he was moving someone else's body.

A wizard next to him waved his wand, muttering a spell and any feeling in his body disappeared, he felt as light as air, nothing was weighing him down. The wizard waved his wand again, Harry's feet touched the ground and he collapsed immediately. He pushed himself carefully up into a sitting position and found he had to keep one hand on the ground to stop himself falling to the floor again.

"Do you think that's enough pain reducing charms?" the wizard asked the witch beside him. She looked over at Harry and raised her eyebrows.

"I should think so. Anymore and he won't be able to respond to questions."

She walked over and kneeled by Harry, taking his hand and carefully pricking one of his fingers with a needle. She might as well have stuck the needle in a block of ice for all the effect it had on him.

"Harry, can you hear me?" she asked.

Harry, who was carefully prodding his finger and examining the tiny droplets of blood with curiosity, looked up and nodded. He tried to reply, to ask something but his tongue refused to cooperate and he could only make an indecipherable mishmash of sounds. He frowned and tried again, with the same result.

The witch sighed in exasperation and looked over at the wizard. "He can't speak," she stated. "_Great_ spell. You should have been put in Hufflepuff, Holding. It's a wonder you ever received a Hogwart's letter at all."

The wizard's cheeks flushed with anger and he hissed back, "You'd better watch your back the next time we're on a mission together or I might find myself _accidently_ mistaking you for a Muggle, although that wouldn't be very difficult to do."

"I'd rip out your throat before that ever happens," replied the witch icily.

The two looked about ready to take out their wands and start dueling when a brown-haired man ran through one of the doors into the room. "Is he ready?" he asked, looking around quickly. "Come on, the Dark Lord's coming, get him on his feet."

Two Deatheaters ran over to Harry, grabbing him under his arms and wrenching him into a standing position. Someone ran over to the door and opened it, bowing as Voldemort walked in.

The two Deatheaters holding Harry bowed low, one pressing a hand down on Harry's neck, forcing him to bow as well. He stared down at the ground until the pressure on the back of his neck was released, enabling him to look back up.

Voldemort was standing no more than two paces away from Harry but curiously, he felt no fear. It was as if the pain reducing charm had numbed his feelings, or maybe the lack of pain in his scar had lulled him into a false sense of security.

_He_ stared at him with those emotionless red eyes before striding forward and carefully touching one finger to Harry's scar. Harry felt neither the touch of Voldemort's finger nor the pain that usually came from such contact. He stared straight ahead, his eyes unfocused.

"Good," said Voldemort. "He doesn't feel pain from his scar."

A spindly hand touched Harry underneath the chin, lifting his head up until he was staring into Voldemort's eyes. The room started to spin around him and suddenly his head was filled with pain and images were flashing past him.

…_He was sitting in front of a desk facing the healer Smethwyck from St Mungo's. A bewitched quill was waiting on a parchement of paper. Smethwyck folded his hands together and said, "We'll move onto your childhood now Harry, tell me about life with the Dursleys."…_

…_He was standing in front of the portrait with the snakes, they were talking to him in parseltongue. Regulus was bowing in front of him…_

…"_Harry, we're your parents, can't you trust us?"…_

The memories flashing by started to go further back and Harry's body tensed. No! He couldn't let Voldemort see before he arrived here, he couldn't let him know. The presence in his mind seemed to sense the resistance and pushed harder to get through this barrier. Harry tried to harden his mind, to clear it, tried to remember what Snape had taught him but one memory was being pulled out, he couldn't stop it.

A voice echoed.

_The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches... born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies... and the Dark Lord will mark him as his equal, but he will have power the Dark Lord knows not... and either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives..._

_The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord will be born as the seventh month dies..._

"Aaaarrgggh!"

The scream stopped abruptly as Harry was released from the spell. He hung limply in the two Deatheater's arms, his body shaking uncontrollably. Voldemort was standing in front of him, his eyes glinting with anger.

"What did you see?" he hissed. "What does it mean!" he moved forwards and grabbed Harry by the face, forcing him to look at him. Harry however just shut his eyes, finding comfort in the darkness.

The hand holding onto his face hit him hard, knocking his head to the side and the arms keeping him up suddenly let go, letting him fall numbly to the ground. Harry opened his eyes and pushed himself onto his back, feeling like he didn't have enough energy to sit up.

"What does it mean!" Voldemort demanded again and Harry started to laugh. He opened his mouth and let out a few nonsense syllables, laughing at the look on Voldemort's face.

"What have you done to him!" he yelled, now rounding on the other Deatheaters, who shrank back.

There was a second's silence before the witch that had spoken to Harry before suddenly said, "It was him!" pointing to the Deatheater standing beside her. "He did the spell wrong! He made it so Harry couldn't speak! He should've been put in Hufflepuff he's so-"

"_Shut up!_" hissed Voldemort, looking almost apoplectic with rage. He aimed his wand at Harry who was still laughing and said, "Finite Incantatem!"

The laughter was suddenly transformed into screams as the pain in Harry's scar came back to life. Voldemort passed a hand over his face and said in a voice barely controlling his anger, "Take him away," he said, motioning to the two Deatheaters that had been holding Harry up before.

* * *

The Deatheaters had dragged Harry to his old blue and gold room, leaving him lying on the bed. Exhausted, he had fallen asleep almost immediately. 

He woke up a few hours later, coughing, his bedclothes crumpled and kicking onto the floor. His head swam and he squeezed his eyes shut, waiting for the dizzy feeling to pass. His skin felt uncomfortably hot and a horrible lump was forming in his throat.

Finally he sat up and half crawled his way to the bathroom, before throwing up in the toilet. He slumped down next to it, pressing the flush button and gripping onto the towel rack, trying to make the pain go away.

"I'm sorry."

He looked up to see Malfoy standing by the bathroom door looking uncomfortable.

"I know all these potions and spells must be pretty bad … but they're all to help you, to try to get you back to your old self. Does it – does it hurt a lot?"

Harry could only stare back, gasping uncomfortably for air. He pressed the back of his hand against his forehead in an effort to cool his skin. He tried to clear his throat but only succeeded in triggering a coughing fit.

"I need-" he finally managed to say, his voice scratchy and hoarse. "I … need some water."

Malfoy almost tripped over himself in his haste to get a glass. He filled it up at the sink and brought it over to Harry, who took it with one shaking hand. He drank a few sips but even that much made his stomach turn. He set the glass down on the ground and pressed his arms against his stomach, folding himself over as he tried to stop himself being sick in front of Malfoy.

"Do you – do you want me to call a mediwizard or something?"

Harry shook his head. When the sick feeling passed he unfolded himself, looked up and said, "What's the point?"

"…The point…?"

"_The point!_" repeated Harry. "I mean I'm … never going to … go home, am I? I may as well … get used to … _this_ place being my home … ha, ha … I guess that would make … Voldemort my dad, eh? And … and I suppose you'd be my brother. Well,at least it's better than the bloody Dursleys!"

He started laughing, coughing intermittently. Malfoy was looking very worried now, he ran out of the bathroom, and Harry heard him open the door and yell at someone in the corridor outside.

"Oh … don't bother about … a doctor," said Harry when Malfoy came back in. "I don't _want_ … to be cured … I'd really much rather … be left here to die, preferably … in a very painful and long way." He laughed again. "Do you think … you can arrange that?"

Malfoy's shocked and scared expression made Harry laugh even harder and he was still laughing when another Deatheater ran in, presumably the Mediwizard. Harry's stomach was hurting now from laughing so much but he didn't stop, at least that pain was better than the horrible sick pain from before.

"He's ill," said Malfoy, trying to explain. "I mean, he's-he's saying things and I don't – I don't-" sensing his jabbering wasn't helping matters he bit down on his lip and managed to shut himself up.

The mediwizard brought out a small glass bottle and took off the top, waving it under Harry's nose. The vapours seemed to stick to the back of his throat and he started coughing violently. Blackness gathered around the edges of his vision and finally he slumped down on the floor.

* * *

Draco ran out of his best friend's room, wiping his face and slipping his Deatheater mask on quickly, hoping no-one had had time to see the tears running down his face. He sprinted the last few metres to his room and shut the door quickly, leaning against it heavily. 

This was even worse than he'd thought. Why was Harry acting like this? He was meant to be the same when he came back. Draco had followed everything to the letter, he'd done everything he was meant to ... so why hadn't his best friend come back?

He slid down to the floor and rubbed at his eyes through the mask. It had been a few days since they'd got Harry back, but he'd only been awake for maybe only a few hours altogether, and he hadn't exactly been in his right mind.

The Dark Lord didn't know why or how Harry had come back, and Draco wasn't sure if he was ever going to tell him, since the book he'd used had come from the Dark Lord's collection. But he needed to tell someone, he needed some help.

Normally, the person he'd go to would be Harry, pretty ironic, seeing as he was the one person he couldn't go to. Draco laughed and squeezed his eyes shut tightly. How pathetic was he? He didn't _have _any friends other than Harry that he could talk to.

He lost himself in thoughts of self-pity for a while before his brain starting thinking again.

Someone from the Department of Mysteries would maybe know something. They had access to all sort of strange stuff there, maybe there'd be documents about people who had tried this kind-of thing before. He sighed. How was he meant to get help from them? They were all in the Muggle-lover's pocket.

But ... wasn't there someone who...? Luna! Harry's old girlfriend ... her mum was an Unspeakable, wasn't she! Draco sat up, hope rising. Hadn't she helped Harry just before? That's what he'd heard, and she was getting questioned for it by the Order. Surely she would-

He jumped up and ran over to his desk, leaning over and leafing through his writing parchement quickly. What the-? Why was all of the paper here only ever black? He gritted his teeth, flicking through again, trying to find some parchement that didn't look _too _evil and suspicious.

Finally he settled on plain black paper with a small logo of the Dark Mark at the top right hand corner. He looked at the logo for a second before scribbling it out as much as he could and drawing a little smiley face next to it. Well, that would have to do for now.

He dashed off the letter, making it as unthreatening as he possibly could. He didn't sign his name, only labelling himself as a friend. He'd never met Luna before, all he knew about her was what Harry had told him so he didn't want to take any risks.

He folded the parchement over, writing Luna's name on the front and grabbed a handful of black powder from a jar next to him, sprinkling it over the letter. It sparkled for a few moments before disappearing. Draco let himself relax.

All he had to do now was wait.

* * *

All right, answering questions time! A lot of people have been asking the same sort of questions so I thought I may as well clear them up, as I can't answer most of them in the story. 

Why doesn't anyone check if Harry's got the Dark Mark on his arm?

I'm kind-of taking this from canon. If it was that easy to check if someone was a Deatheater I'm sure the Ministry would've ordered a search of everyone's forearms, or at least those who are suspected of being a Deatheater. So, there must be some reason why they can't do that, I don't know, maybe it's only visible to other Deatheaters or only shows up when Voldemort summons them. It's kind-of like how they didn't just give Sirius Black veritaserum and ask if he killed Peter Pettigrew.

Can't Snape or Dumbledore read his mind?

They've probably already done that. The problem is, if Harry's crazy he'd believe he was telling the truth, so it wouldn't really tell them anything useful.

What's the deal with the repetitive storyline?

Heh. Sorry. This is probably due to the fact that I didn't plan out the story before I wrote it. I just wrote one chapter, then when it seemed popular I thought up some ideas for the next chapter and wrote that. I'm not even sure what's going to happen in the next chapter yet.I never really meant for this story to have areally deep plot, it's just meant to be fun and exciting to read.

If Voldemort touches Harry, won't Voldemort get hurt as well? I mean, Harry's got his mother's protection in his blood while Voldy doesn't.

That's pretty sharp. I never even noticed that. Let's just put it down to one of the many plotholes.


End file.
